Narnian Beauty
by Pink Basilisk
Summary: Princess Aurora has spent her whole life searching for answers. Things used to be simple, and then she discovered who her mother really was. Confused between what's right and wrong, she must set out to discover for herself. But then she meets a certain royal family. Will they ever accept her, knowing who she really is? Will he ever accept her? Sleeping Beauty inspired.
1. The Little Princess - Part One

**Hi there, thanks for opening up my story! It will be broken down into sections, the first one being "The Little Princess" which takes place during the lion, the witch and the wardrobe. This is a sort of prequel to the story, and sets the scene for the next section which will be more exciting! I hope you stay till then.**

 **Please review - constructive criticism, suggestions and comments on the story are all welcome and very much appreciated :)**

* * *

 **The Little Princess - Part One**

Narnia was not a happy place. It was a cold and lonely landscape, home to ice and a bitter wind that could chill you straight through to your bones in just a single gust.

Curled up in an uncomfortable wooden sleigh was a young girl, more beautiful than an angel come straight from heaven, with bright and curious blue eyes that were busy drinking in her unfamiliar surroundings. She stared with fascination at the new world around her, admiring the glistening snow and fur trees dusted white.

Nerves started to bubble up in her stomach, as she wondered why the country was so deserted. They had been riding for hours and she had not seen a single living being other than the two tall reindeer who were pulling the sleigh. It was eerily quiet, the only noise to be heard was the reindeer's large hooves crunching the ground in a steady rhythm. Turning her attention to the white creatures running through the snow, the little girl's lips turned into a frown. The poor animals looked so tired and skinny. Surely the must be freezing without any sort of clothing on their backs to fight off the icy breeze. Feeling guilty, she hugged her thin grey cloak closer and waited for the castle to appear in the distance.

More and more, the little girl felt her anxiety growing, nagging at her that she had made a terrible mistake. She had been pushing it down forcefully, not wanting to face the fact that she may have been wrong about coming to Narnia, but she could no longer compress her fear when the threatening ice castle appeared between two intimidating mountains in the distance.

As the two exhausted-looking reindeer pulled into the castle courtyard, the little girl shrunk back into her seat in horror. There were hundreds upon hundreds of disturbing stone statues scattered about the castle grounds in some sick display. Many of the figures were creatures she had never seen before. A short man with odd, fluffy looking legs, an incredibly tall woman with a horse's body, and an endless number of different animals. Each of them wore terrified, pained expressions and stood cowering as though they were about to be struck with something horrible and frightening.  
Shivering, her heart beat faster and louder than it ever had before. She definitely should not have come here. In just a few short moments the reindeer had pulled up to the castle's massive doors, and preceded to drop their big heads low, panting loudly.

Much to the girl's shock, a huge dark-coloured wolf stalked out from behind a statue and stopped to stare at the frightened girl viciously. Frozen in her seat, she thought back to a story her Aunt Fauna once told her, about a girl in a red cloak who got eaten by a wolf. Oh, she really hoped that he wasn't hungry. Shrinking back into her seat, she watched helplessly as the scary creature walked towards her, it's yellow eyes cruel.  
She wanted to go home.  
"Come, little princess," he snarled suddenly, causing her to jump back as a shriek escaped her cold lips. His expression changed to amusement, before he turned back around and preceded to walk to the castle doors saying, "the queen is waiting for you."  
Frightened tears were starting to fill her eyes as she watched the creature walk away. Her heart was still pounding from the shock of hearing him speak. Animals weren't supposed to talk! She longed for the familiar warmth of her cozy cottage and the caring love of her fussy aunts. She wished she was still home. Still safe.  
It took all of her strength to push thoughts of her old life to the back of her mind and force her shaky legs to take her out of the sleigh. Ignoring her gut instinct to run in the opposite direction, she followed the wolf cautiously past the last of the disturbing statues and up the slippery glass steps.

She was led to a massive room, only dimly lit by the pale sun shining through the high glass ceiling. The room was unfurnished except for a tall throne which sat at the back wall. It was grand and beautiful appearing to be made out of glass or ice, it was hard to tell which, and sparkled like a million diamonds.  
It was not the throne however that caught the princess' attention and caused her heart to freeze. It was in fact, the lady that sat upon it.  
She was huge, that was the princess' first thought. Although she had a slim figure her height was that of a small giant. With porcelain skin, white hair and dressed in a breath-taking floor length gown, she was quite beautiful but in the most terrible way as her icy blue eyes cut through the princess and turned her insides cold.  
She felt as though she had turned into one of the statues outside as the woman stared at her, taking in her small form with a fierce expression.  
"Come forward child," her cool voice ordered.  
Instantly the princess felt herself obey, not wanting to anger the powerful woman. A shudder went down her spine when the giant's features suddenly morphed into a wicked smile, and the princess swallowed nervously. There was a reason she had come here, she reminded herself. Mustering up all of her courage she asked the question in a small, nervous voice,  
"Are you my mother?"

 **I hoped you enjoyed the first chapter of The Little Princess, please let me know your thoughts.**

 **Thanks for reading!**


	2. The Little Princess - Part Two

**The Little Princess - Part two**

The queen laughed delightedly at the tiny girl in front of her. Her round blue eyes were brighter than Sapphires and looked up at her with fearful curiosity. Jadis recognised those startling eyes immediately. Yes, this was her daughter. "Yes, my child, we have been reunited at last," she sang, putting on the most loving smile she could, and bending down to stroke her daughters cold cheek. "My dear, you are freezing," she cried, trying to appear concerned, "And look at the shadows under those eyes, you must rest at once. You have had such a long journey," she smiled, her hand still resting on the girl's cheek. She wrapped her large fur cloak around the child's shoulders, and led her away, through the dark halls of the castle. The child seemed tense at first, frightened even, but soon relaxed into Jadis' side. The queen hid her smirk, knowing that her plan was working.

She took her daughter to the room her servants had prepared for her. It was a room designed for a young child. She wanted to make the girl feel comfortable and at home. It would be necessary if she wanted to gain her trust. "Here we are, dear. This is your bedroom," she smiled down at the princess, who had stepped away from her to look around. "I shall leave you to get changed and ready for bed. One of my servants will bring you something to drink," sensing the girl was about to say something she quickly added, "we can talk once you are rested, my love. Sweet dreams."

The princess watched the lady, her mother, leave the room, unsure how to feel. On the one hand she was filled with happiness. She had found her mother. Her real mother, and she was alive. "My love," that was what her mother had called her. Her mother loved her. But she also ruled this place, and it didn't seem very nice. She thought back to the statues outside and the wolf, and the tired reindeer. Thoughts were buzzing around her head so quickly, building into a headache. Yawning, she looked to the nightdress laid out on the bed. It was white, as was everything here it seemed. She looked around the room again, taking in the brilliance of it all. In the middle of the large room was a bed fit for a queen, with white silk sheets that slid through her fingers when she reached out to hold them. Her eyes were drawn to the huge wooden dollhouse in the corner of the room. She quickly made her way towards it running her hand over the smooth painted-white roof and smiling brightly as she noticed the little doll sitting in the living room. She was a beautiful lady with long white hair, and she was holding something in her lap. The princess reached down to pick it up. It was a baby, wrapped in a cotton blanket. Smiling, she gently placed the baby back with its mother, and moved on to look at the many other toys neatly placed around the room. A rocking horse sat on the floor, waiting to be ridden. A chest was placed at the bottom of her bed, and with closer inspection appeared to have snowflakes carved into its lid. When she opened it, she was greeted by a huge number of toys. Dolls, and puzzles and a large book of fairy tales. Placing it all back, as carefully as she could manage, she walked over to admire all of the pretty dolls that lined the shelf on her wall. Oh, how badly she wanted to take them down and braid their hair. But her tiredness was getting the better of her, and so she changed into the softest nightgown she had ever worn and climbed in among the various stuffed animals on her bed.  
When the chubby dwarf arrived with her hot chocolate, she was already fast asleep.

"Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear," the fairy Flora muttered to herself, whilst pacing back and forth the hallway outside the room where the king was. How was she to tell him? He would be so devasted. The princess Aurora wasn't supposed to find out about her parents. Not until after her 16th birthday when they could be sure that the curse wasn't going to take her. Oh, that stupid Merryweather and her big mouth. They had been arguing again, about what colour of dress they should make for Rose's birthday, (her real name is Aurora but they decided to rename her after she came into their care). Flora thought that blue would bring out her eyes but Merryweather wanted something more eye-catching like pink because, "well she is a princess after all," and it turned out that little Rose was there the whole time!  
"Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear," Flora continued to mutter. Rose had asked them what they meant when they said she was a princess. She said it in that sweet way of hers where she looked up at you with those bright eyes and you just had to tell her. So they told her the truth, or most of it anyway. That they weren't really her Aunts, that they were fairies who were protecting her, and oh how her face just lit up when they showed her their magic. But then of course the clever girl, she picks up on everything, asked what she needed protection from. They couldn't possibly tell her about Maleficent, or her curse, so they told her it was up to her father to explain it to her. Then unsurprisingly she asked to meet her father. Oh, how the three fairies had dug themselves into a hole! And so, that was how they wound up taking the girl back to her father, who although delighted to see his daughter, was absolutely seething that the fairies brought her back.  
Other than the anger of the king, all seemed to be going swimmingly. They told Rose that her mother had died in a tragic accident, and that there was an angry fairy who wished harm upon her, leaving out the curse and the fact that her mother was alive. Flora once again wondered who the princess's mother was, and why the king was so determined to keep her identity secret.

And now the princess was gone, and Flora just knew that the she had found out about their lies. She always was terribly curious.  
"Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear."

When Aurora awoke, she felt as though she was still dreaming. The softness of her new bed seemed too wonderful to be true. Sitting up, she started to feel nervous. What was she supposed to do now? Her mother said that they would talk once she had rested, so she leapt up out of bed, eager to get her questions answered. It was only when she felt the coldness of the floor against her bare feet that she remembered what her mother had really been like, how scary she had been. Her stomach was gnawing at her, desperate for food. She hadn't eaten since she snuck away from her aunts after talking to the strange lady with the horns, who had told her the truth about her mother.

It was her hunger that forced her over to the door, and carefully out of her room, wary of any more talking wolves that might want to eat her.  
"Princess, you're awake," a gruff voice stated loudly, causing her to jump back into her room, staring at the stranger in front of her. He was a man, about the same height as her. She had never met such a small man before. His grey beard reached right down to his feet, and he wore a worn red hat that she realised was perhaps the first colourful thing she had seen since arriving in Narnia.  
"Hello," she answered shyly. Not sure why he was there.  
"The queen wishes for you to join her for breakfast," he huffed, "follow me."

 **I hope you enjoyed. Please review, I'd love to hear your opinion :)**


	3. The Little Princess - Part Three

**The Little Princess. Part Three**

Aurora found herself sitting on a very fancy dining chair that reminded her slightly of the throne she saw the day before, only not as large. The small man with the red hat had led her to what seemed to be the dining room, before walking off without a word. Her mouth had watered at the sight of all the beautiful food laid out on the glass table. There were pastries, eggs, sausages, fruit, it was more food than little Aurora had ever seen in her whole life! She had clambered onto one of the two chairs at the table but hesitated before reaching for an apple. Would her mother appreciate her starting early? Aunt Flora said that it was rude to start before everyone was at the table. Placing both hands back on her lap, she waited patiently, desperately trying to ignore how painful her hungry stomach felt.  
Suddenly sensing that she was no longer alone, Aurora looked up and wasn't at all surprised to see her mother walking gracefully into the room. She could feel the queen's presence in a strange way that she didn't understand. It was as though a wave of coldness had washed over the room and it left her feeling less hungry, and more uneasy.  
"Good morning, my dear. How did you sleep?" she asked once she had sat down, her smile was kind but seemed unnatural - it didn't quite reach her eyes.  
"Very well, thank you," Aurora replied, as politely as she could. Was she allowed to start eating yet? Her stomach gurgled loudly, and the queen laughed, "Please dig in."  
It was the most delicious meal the little princess had ever had. She ate happily, all of her earlier anxiousness had disappeared, and she relaxed greatly. Once her stomach was full enough that the hunger stopped making her so uncomfortable, she remembered why she was there. Looking up, she noticed that her mother hadn't eaten anything and was watching her with interest.  
"What's your name, child?" the queen asked gently.  
"Rose," she answered immediately before remembering, "well, my real name is Aurora but my Aunts called me Briar Rose,"  
"Your father named you Aurora?" she asked quietly, thinking to herself. Aurora nodded. The queen was silent for a long time before seeming to remember the little girl, and put the smile back on her face, "You probably have a lot of questions for me Aurora," the little girl nodded, " I have some questions for you as well. Perhaps we should go out for a ride and have a chat. I would very much like to get to know you."

They were sitting on a grand sleigh, much fancier than the one she had been on the previous day. It was again being pulled by reindeer except this time their reins were being held by the little man with the red hat. Aurora wondered why nobody had been riding the sleigh with her the day before. The lady with the horns had just led her to the sleigh, and the reindeer pulled it to the castle themselves.  
She was much warmer than the last time she had been outside, having gotten dressed into a soft new dress and a beautifully thick white cloak, with a hood that kept her head nice and cosy. Her old shoes had been replaced with big thick boots and fluffy socks that tickled her toes.  
Overall she was very comfortable sitting next to her mother as they rode through the woods.  
"I imagine you would like to know why I have not been the one to look after you Aurora," the queen sighed, seeming sad. Aurora listened, wanting badly to know everything.  
"Well, it all began when I met your father dear," the queen started, "we fell in love, you see. We had planned to get married and unite our kingdoms. I loved him with all my heart, and I thought he loved me too, but it was all lies," she looked down at Aurora sadly, "he lied to me about loving me, and then left me to go back to his kingdom," she paused for a second before continuing, "when he found out about you, he sent some of his spies into Narnia, and had them kidnap you," she said with disgust, anger radiating off her now instead of sadness, " I was devastated and tried to find you but I could not. I was so stupid though Aurora, I didn't figure out it was him until I heard from Maleficent, the lady that brought you to me, and a dear friend of mine. I am so happy now, that we can be together at last," she finished smiling down at the little girl who had tears in her eyes. Aurora smiled back at the queen, feeling a warmth in her stomach after hearing her mother talk about how much she had missed her. After learning that her mother was alive, she had a dreadful feeling that her mother didn't want her, that she had given her away. But her mother had always wanted to look after her, it was her father who had separated them. She was shocked that he would have done such a thing, especially as he hadn't wanted her either. He had sent her to live with someone else, and she had only met him a few days ago! Why would he kidnap her only to send her away?  
They rode together the whole morning, Aurora telling her mother about growing up with her aunts, "they always bicker but they love each other really," she explained. Her mother was very interested in hearing about her father's castle, and how she managed to sneak off from the fairies after the horned lady, Maleficent was her name, appeared in the fire place, telling her that she had been lied to. Aurora told her mother how she had been scared at first, when the fire turned green and the face appeared but that the lady seemed kind, and just wanted to show her the truth. "She said that she knew who you were, and that I belonged with you and not with my father," the little princess said, "so I waited until my aunts were arguing again, and then I snuck past them, and met the lady in the woods,"  
"And that was when she brought you to Narnia?" the queen asked.  
Aurora didn't answer suddenly feeling very guilty for leaving her aunts. They would be so worried. Would her father be worried too? She hardly knew him, and he didn't sound very nice from what her mother had said, but her aunts had said that he loved her very much. She was very confused, and suddenly filled with homesickness. Tears filled her eyes and her mother looked alarmed.  
"Why are you crying child?" she asked, sharply. Aurora's tears spilled out and she started to sob, "I want my Aunts," she wailed, unable to hold it back. She was confused and she didn't understand why her mother suddenly seemed angry. She just wanted to go home.  
"Ginarrbrik, take us back to the castle at once!" her mother ordered, her voice loud and frightening, causing Aurora to sob harder.

The queen sat on her throne, pondering the odd events of the morning. She still didn't know what was wrong with the child, and why she had decided to start screaming like some sort of demented animal. She had seemed fine only a moment before! At least Aurora seemed to buy her story. Of course it wasn't all lies. Her father really did kidnap her, and Jadis stupidly didn't realise it was him. She wanted to slap herself for being so ignorant. Of course it was him, he had always wanted children. She just didn't think he knew about the child, not until Maleficent, the great fairy, had got in touch with her of course. Telling her about the girl who was being raised by Stefan. She had never loved that idiot man, she had been playing with his easy heart, in hopes of marrying him and ruling his kingdom as well as her own. If only he hadn't found out her plan. Oh well, nothing could be done about that now, she had her daughter back. Everything was going according to plan. At least, it would be once the child gained a little sanity. She never had wanted to be a mother.

 **So not too much happened in this part. More will start happening in the next part, I promise. Thanks for reading, I would really appreciate any follows or reviews - so far I haven't had any haha. I hope you enjoyed :)**


	4. The Little Princess - Part Four

**The Little Princess - Part Four**

Aurora was kneeling down in front of her dollhouse, happily sending the mother doll to go and cook dinner. The baby was taking a nap.  
She had been living in the ice castle for a little over two weeks now, and was growing used to the cold floors, and silent rooms. Most of her time had been spent playing alone, either quietly in the corner of the throne room whilst her mother sat talking to her servants, or in her bedroom by herself. It was lonely, and the princess began to long for her old life. She missed her aunts badly, and even her father, although she'd only known him for a very brief time. Aurora wished that her mother would play with her, or read her a bedtime story, but she only ever saw her mother at meals. The meals had also grown less appealing. They were still giant feasts but less colourful and more grim.  
The princess had finished playing with the dollhouse, and had moved on to admiring the detailed illustrations in her book of fairy tales. She ran her finger gently along the pages, outlining the characters and following their adventures. All of sudden she felt an icy cold rush through her, alerting her of her mother's presence. Sure enough, there was a harsh knock at the door, and in walked the giant lady.  
"Come along Aurora, it is time to start your schooling," she demanded, before marching out, leaving Aurora to jump up and hurry along after her. Her mother had announced that she was going to start getting lessons. She said it was important for a princess to be clever and knowledgeable.  
They reached a room, as cold and dark as the rest of the castle. In it sat a large glass desk, with a couple of bookshelves lining the walls.  
"Sit, down," the queen ordered. The little girl clambered rather un-elegantly up on to the chair, and waited in silence for her mother to tell her what to do. She had learnt to wait for instructions before doing anything in front of the woman. Otherwise her eyes would turn horribly angry and terrifying. It was enough to make Aurora shake in fear, with frightened tears welling up in her eyes. So she stayed quiet, while her mother grabbed a thick book off the shelf and placed it on the desk in front of her.  
"Read it to me."  
Aurora started to feel unwell, sickness building up in her stomach. Her aunts had never taught her to read! Staring at the book in front of her, she kept her mouth glued shut, too terrified to say anything.  
"Read it to me child!" the queen shouted, causing the princess to flinch. Her cheeks suddenly felt wet with tears as her little body shook. She didn't like it when her mother got angry.

Jadis stared down at the small girl in front of her. She was visibly shaking now, frightened tears spilling down her cheeks. What was wrong with her now?! Could she do nothing without bawling like an infant? Trying to calm down, Jadis knelt down beside the girl and made an effort to keep her voice as gentle as possible, "Can you not read Aurora?" The princess shook her head. The queen held back a frustrated sigh. This child was going to be far more work than she had originally thought.

* * *

It was a few months later and Aurora had grown up considerably. She was used to the daily lessons now, and no longer cried when her mother lost her temper with her. It happened almost every day. Whenever she stumbled over her words when reading, or miscalculated one of the difficult equations she was given. She could read fairly well now, and had the map of Narnia memorised, although the only time she got to venture outside the castle was on the rare occasion when her mother decided to take her out for a sleigh ride.

It was a lonely life, without laughter or fun. She never got time to play with her toys anymore, and when she did she found that she couldn't quite enjoy them the same. The stories she made up for her dolls seemed too unreal, and their frozen smiles were starting to make her uneasy. Her mother only spoke to her when she was teaching her and even then Aurora often found herself being left to do the work on her own.  
The months continued to pass in a miserable blur of books and loneliness.

* * *

It was a week before Aurora's eighth birthday, and she was sitting quietly in the corner of the throne room reading, when her mother came storming in, angrier than she had ever seen her. Aurora didn't look up from her book, just shrunk further back into the wall praying that she wouldn't catch her mother's attention. She had stopped reading and was instead listening intently as the little man with the red hat (who she had since learnt was a dwarf called Ginarrbrik) spoke,  
"My queen, the prophecy! What are we to do?" he cried.  
The queen practically threw herself onto her throne, anger radiating off her.  
"MAUGRIM!" she bellowed causing the whole room to shake. Not a second later the large wolf came bounding through followed by the other members of his pack.  
"Yes your majesty," he answered, slightly out of breath,  
"There is a faun who has been fraternising with humans! His name is said to be Mr Tumnus. Bring him to me!" she ordered, "NOW!"  
The wolves promptly raced outside their howls echoing off the ice walls of the throne room. Aurora shuddered. What did fraternising mean? And she hadn't heard of other humans in Narnia before. Her mother told her they were banned. Aurora and her mother were the only ones in the country. Weren't they?  
"Ginarrbrik, send word out to our spies in the woods. Tell them to come to the castle immediately,"  
"Yes your majesty," the dwarf nodded, franticly leaving the room.  
"Aurora," her mother called out, much quieter, in a calm icy tone that was somehow even more terrifying than when she shouted. The princess's head shot up at the sound of her name and she quickly stood, and ran over to stand in front of the queen.  
"Yes mother,"  
Her mother stared at her for a second, her cold eyes were calculating and evil. Aurora dared not look away, although she felt desperate to escape from the queen's gaze.  
"Go straight to your room," she eventually ordered, "and don't come out until I call for you."

With that the princess hurried out of the throne room, letting out a relieved breath once she was safely away from the queen. At least her mother wasn't angry at _her_. She wondered again what had the queen in such a state. Aurora was contemplating this whilst walking through the hallway to her room when she heard a voice,  
"It was a son of Adam and a daughter of Eve," the deep voice explained. She heard a gasp, before someone else spoke in a hushed tone,  
"Do you mean to say the prophecy is coming true?" another male asked.  
"I believe it is Tarandro. Rumour has it that Aslan is near. Winter might finally be coming to an end,"  
Aurora paused outside the door the conversation was coming from. Who is Aslan, and what is a prophecy? She continued to listen to the conversation, forgetting momentarily about her mother's order to go straight to her room.  
"The witch will do everything in her power to stop this," the second voice muttered. She heard a huff of agreement. A witch?! Like the one in Hansel and Gretel?  
There was silence for a few seconds before the first voice spoke again,  
"What of the girl? Is she a witch like her mother?" he asked.  
"Doesn't appear to be. At least not yet. I hear her mother is training her. I can only assume the witch wants to use her for something. I don't know what for though. Oh the poor thing Cornibus, she's just a child," he finished sadly. Aurora frowned. They couldn't be talking about her, could they? Her mother wasn't a witch! She was just a very tall lady. She didn't do magic, not like her aunts did. Doubt started floating about in her mind, and she tried to shake it but couldn't. She wanted answers. These people seemed to know what was going on. She could always ask them, they seemed nice enough. Did she dare though?  
After a few moments of thinking hard she decided that she would talk to them. Pushing all thoughts of how angry her mother would be if she heard of her disobeying orders, she quickly pulled open the door and stepped inside.  
Surprisingly she found herself in the stables. Quietly shutting the door behind her, she looked around, expecting to see some dwarves or wolves, or perhaps even a frightening minotaur. Anyone who could be the source of the conversation. She walked past the two reindeer in their stables and looked around the corner. There was a large door at the end wall, and she made her way towards it. Had the two people gone outside? Just as she reached it however, the deep voice spoke, "Don't go out there little girl, the dwarves are guarding the other side of the door," she whipped around, looking to find the person who'd spoken but again, she was alone. Spooked, she was just about to leave when the other voice asked in a gentle tone, "Are you alright? You look a little pale,". Aurora caught the speaker this time, it was the large white reindeer. Her mouth fell open as she realised how silly she had been. Of course it was the reindeer! And it was the same two who had brought her to the castle that first time!  
"I'm sorry," she stuttered, still a little shocked, "I didn't know that you could talk," A small blush crept up her cheeks. The first reindeer, the slightly larger one laughed.  
"It's quite alright little one. We like to keep our voices to ourselves most of the time,"  
"Yes, your mother doesn't appreciate talking animals that much, so we just pretend we're dumb beasts you see," the smaller one explained.  
They sounded kind, and Aurora's nerves were starting to calm down, so she asked, "are you the only talking reindeer here?"  
The larger one nodded, and Aurora thought she saw a little shame on his face. She wasn't sure what else to say, so she just stood awkwardly, before the smaller one spoke, "My name's Tarandro," he informed her, "and this is my brother Cornibus," he gestured to the other reindeer with his head.  
"My name's Aurora," she smiled shyly.  
"Well it's a pleasure to meet you Aurora," Tarandro bowed, causing Aurora to giggle slightly. She liked these reindeer.  
"What are you doing in the stables, little girl," the larger one, Cornibus, asked, his deep voice sounding interested.  
Aurora blushed again. She didn't want to tell them she had been eavesdropping, but she wanted to know what they were talking about. Badly. Eventually, she spoke up, and confessed, "I heard you speaking a moment ago," she looked at her feet nervously, "about a witch, and a prophecy. And Aslan,"  
When she looked up, she saw the two creatures looking at each other before Tarandro nodded at his brother. Cornibus sighed and looked towards Aurora saying, "You wish to understand what we were talking about?" he asked. Aurora nodded.  
"Alright then. Have you ever heard about the true history of Narnia?"

 **And... part four is up! Woohoo! I think there will be one more part of the little princess after this, and then we can move on to the next part of the story! Exciting! At least, I'm excited. I hope you are too.**

 **Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed. Any reviews or follows would be deeply appreciated. I still haven't got any haha**

 **Until next time... :)**


	5. The Little Princess - Part Five

**A huge thank you to my FIRST EVER REVIEWER! I'm so glad you're enjoying the story, this part's for you. I hope you like it! :)**

 **The Little Princess - Part Five**

As Aurora lay silently in her large, warm bed that night, her mind spun uncontrollably. Thoughts of what the two reindeer, Tarandro and Cornibus, had told her buzzed through her head like gnats, their horrible stories of her mother seeming too dreadful to be true. They claimed she was a witch, a tyrant Cornibus had snarled. They had to be mistaken, Aurora thought desperately. Because if her mother was as evil as they said, then did being her daughter make Aurora evil too? Her new friends had informed her that the only one powerful enough to destroy the white witch was "the great Aslan,". Cornibus spoke of him as though he was a powerful king, a god even! They said he was an enormous and magnificent lion, who would bring greatness back into the world. Surely if he hated her mother so much, then he would feel just as strongly about Aurora. Would he destroy her along with her mother? He was a lion, maybe he would eat them! Fear was building up in her stomach as images of a huge lion chasing her flashed through her mind. After lying for hours, too terrified to even shut her eyes, the tiredness finally won out, and she drifted off into a deep slumber.

Waking suddenly, she discovered herself lying on something damp and smelly. Looking down, she saw that it was hay. She was in the stables. It was as cold as the day before, and she was alone, no friendly reindeer in sight. Her stomach tightened into knots for a second before a realisation dawned on her, she was dreaming. Relieved, though still feeling a little wary, she cautiously stood up, wrapping her bare arms around herself to fight off the chill that had seeped right through her and into her bones. Aurora had the oddest sensation that something was about to happen, something important. She waited, although she couldn't say what she was waiting for, just that she was supposed to. Out of nowhere a loud voice spoke, breaking the silence. It was gentle, but also powerful and terrible enough to make the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. "Your friends speak the truth, little one," it wisely stated, in a deep and melodic tone, "they are kind souls, and they shall help you, but you MUST do as I say. Leave Narnia at once, for you are no longer safe here. Travel back to your father and aunts. They miss you dearly. Be brave Aurora, and always remember that no matter how you feel you are never alone."

* * *

"What are you doing Aurora!" Cornibus cried, shocked at the distressed looking princess who had just burst into the stables in the early hours of the morning. Pale-faced with startlingly bright eyes and dressed all in white the little girl briefly reminded him of the white witch. Startled by his thoughts he shook his head and called to his brother who was still asleep in the far corner of the pen.  
"Tarandro," he whispered, very aware of the guards who would be patrolling the castle. Sighing at his brother's still sleeping form he tried again, slightly louder, "Tarandro!" The large creature stirred for a second, before quickly opening his eyes and looking up.  
"What is it brother?" he said quickly, sounding concerned. Gesturing with his head to the young child who was standing in front of the door, looking shaken, Cornibus watched his brother's brown eyes widen.  
"What is it Aurora," Tarandro asked quietly, his handsome face filled with worry. After a few long moments of utter silence the little girl whispered, too softly for human ears to pick up.  
"I had a dream." The brothers glanced at each other briefly before Tarandro inquired, "And what was in this dream Aurora?"  
Her bright blue eyes looked up at them both, her beauty startling them briefly, before she answered, "There was a voice. It told me that you would help me," she looked down again. Frowning as much as any reindeer could frown, Cornibus asked, "Help you do what, child?"  
"Escape from Narnia."

* * *

"Don't you understand Cornibus, Aslan is telling us to help her. She needs us!"  
"We can't just leave. Not now. There is a war coming, and we must fight it brother, not run from it!" the angry reindeer hissed. His brother had lost his mind! Tarandro couldn't expect them to run away. They were needed to fight for Aslan, against the evil witch who had oppressed them for so long. Stuff had been happening in Narnia lately, a storm was coming. Yesterday afternoon the wolves had arrested a faun for fraternising with humans. There were humans in Narnia! It was all finally happening, and then the princess told them of her dream. Tarandro was convinced it was Aslan, but why would the great lion want them to leave Narnia. Especially when the Narnians would be needing more warriors. It didn't make sense!  
"Aslan wouldn't tell us to leave when Narnia needs us more than ever," Cornibus voiced his thoughts, pleading with his brother to see reason.  
"We have to trust his judgement brother," Tarandro replied softly. "If he wants Aurora to leave Narnia then we must help her to do so, and besides," his voice turned to a whisper so as not to be heard by the little girl standing on the other side of the room, "look at her. She is just a frightened child. What will happen to her in this war Cornibus? We both know that she is innocent, but the other Narnians do not." Guilt started to flow through him as he looked to the young girl, who was watching them intently with curious eyes. He knew in his heart that she was not like her mother, and he also knew that his brother was right. The Narnians were angry at the witch. They were kind people, but he couldn't be sure how they would react to the young girl who shared the witch's blood. Closing his eyes, he prayed to Aslan that they were doing the right thing, before speaking to his brother with determination evident in his voice,  
"How do we do this brother?"

 **Sorry for the shorter chapter, I ran out of time but really wanted to get this up. I've already started working on the next part though so hopefully I'll have that up pretty soon. I know I said that there would be only one more part of "The Little Princess" but I know now that there will be at least one more after this one. The next part of the story will be coming soon though - I promise!**

 **Also I got my first follower for this story! Thank you so much to prydain, your follow really means the world to me.**

 **Any more follows would be deeply appreciated, as would reviews.**

 **Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed :)**


	6. The Little Princess - Part Six

**The Little Princess - Part Six**

Like a ghost, Aurora slowly and silently made her way through the dark, eerie corridors of the castle. Tarandro's warning about the queen's loyal guards who patrolled through the halls at night, echoed through her mind. "Don't get caught Princess. Or we shall all face the queen's wrath." Shivering, she hid behind a pillar of ice as two frightening shadows strode across the room in front of her. Minotaurs. Thankfully they were oblivious to the little princess hiding only a few feet from them, holding her breath in fear.

As soon as they had left, Aurora continued to tip-toe to a back door, one that Cornibus had insisted wouldn't be guarded heavily, just by a dumb giant, he had shrugged. Gulping at the thought of the huge, dangerous creature she would have to sneak past, she remembered what the voice in her dream had said, "Be brave Aurora." Yes, she would be brave, she thought determinedly. She wasn't a coward.

However, all of her new found confidence had soon vanished like a candle being blown out, as she approached the glass door that she was to go through. On the other side stood a man, larger than any she had ever seen. He even put her mother's abnormal height to shame. In his large, chubby hand was what appeared to be a wooden bat, though on closer inspection Aurora noticed a silver gleam on the end of it. Some sort of blade?

How was she ever supposed to make it past him, she wondered hopelessly. The reindeer claimed he was completely stupid, but at that size did his intelligence really matter? He could easily squash her like a bug! Clutching a dagger that she'd found in a satchel in the stables, Aurora considered just making a run for it. Would he be fast, she thought. Hopefully not. Just as she readied herself to burst out the door, she noticed a small glint of something silver sitting on the floor a few metres away. What could that be, she frowned curiously.  
Reaching over to pick it up the princess saw that it was a small jewel. It must have fallen off one her mother's necklaces! A plan formed in her mind, bringing her hopes up.  
Carefully opening the door, praying that the giant wouldn't hear, she jumped out and quickly ducked behind a large pile of snow. Crouching down, she waited there, pins and needles creeping up her legs, until finally the stupid creature turned to look to his right. Taking her opportunity, Aurora threw the silver jewel at a nearby tree, hitting it directly and causing a small thump. For a split second she panicked that the giant hadn't noticed, but then he grunted something in confusion, and turned towards the tree. Seeming to spot the jewel sparkling in the snow, he raised his eyebrows almost comically, and walked over to pick it up.

Wanting to jump for joy, the princess used his distraction to run outside along the castle walls, and out of his sight. She reached the stable doors after a few minutes, and used her new dagger to hammer at the lock on it. She was so grateful that nobody guarded the stables at night, as she hacked away, finally breaking off the lock with a loud clatter. She didn't bother to worry if anyone had heard, only bursting through the door to free her new friends.  
"You did it Aurora!" Tarandro exclaimed, "Let's hurry. We should make it through the Western Wood by midday."

Icy wind whipped through the princess's golden hair as she clung to Tarandro's bare back. Cornibus ran in front of them, leading the way through the darkness of the still woods. They were heading south to a near country called Archenland, where Tarandro claimed he had friends who would help her back to her father's faraway kingdom. Aurora was still dressed in her cotton nightgown, although she sensibly had thought to put on her warm thick cloak over the top, and her sturdy winter boots.

Never having ridden any sort of horse before, the little princess struggled immensely to stay on the reindeer's back. They had only be riding for a little over an hour and she had already toppled over numerous times, slowing them all down considerably. Cornibus had snapped at her for her dreadful riding skills after her third fall, but had apologised quickly after seeing the large tears welling up in her eyes.  
"You are actually doing quite well Aurora, " Tarandro had comforted, "And besides, I'm really not used to carrying someone on my back. This is a learning experience for both of us."  
Comforted by her friend's reassuring words, Aurora had climbed back up, noticing how the reindeer tried to run a little slower.

They rode on all through the night, only stopping a couple more times when Aurora lost her balance, and hit the ground. Sniffling, she would climb back on, knowing that time wasn't on their side, and that the queen would come looking for them as soon as she realised they were gone. Bruised, scared and tired, she hoped beyond hope that they would soon be in Archenland.

As the sun slowly started to rise, Cornibus spoke for the first time in a few hours, "We do not have long before the witch comes after us. How do you feel brother, can you run a little longer?"  
Slightly out of breath, but still sounding strong, the proud male answered, "Yes brother. The queen shall not rest until the princess is found, so neither shall we. We will head across the river, and into the Shuddering Wood. There are plenty of caves there in which we can rest. Until then, we run."  
Cornibus nodded his head swiftly in agreement. And so they ran.

* * *

Aurora lay curled up in a damp cave, her aching muscles exhausted from the long journey. The two reindeer stood outside in the snow, talking in hushed voices about where to go from there. It had been an incredibly tiring and awful night, and she understood from what the two brothers were saying that they still had a very long way to go. Fear of her mother's wrath if she was found had been bubbling up in her stomach ever since they left. Thoughts of dungeons and being turned to stone, were swimming through her mind as she fell into a restless sleep.

"Aurora," a large head gently nudged her side. Fluttering her eyes open, she saw Tarandro looking at her sympathetically.  
"We must leave now," he whispered to her. Nodding tiredly, she tried to ignore the harsh protesting of her muscles as she stood up and made her way outside of the small cave. Cornibus was nibbling on the thick snow and looked up when he heard her approach.  
"Have some snow child, you must be awfully thirsty," he commented before going back to munching away. The princess really didn't like the idea of eating snow, but her throat did feel very dry.  
"Alright," she answered softly, bending down to scoop up a pile of white. It stung her tongue with its coldness but did make her feel slightly more energised. Her short nap had only been for an hour or so. After only a minute more of rest, Tarandro announced that they must leave, for they did not have any more time to spare.

Riding on Cornibus' back this time to give Tarandro a break, the princess looked around the beautiful, although slightly eerie, woods that they were riding through. Snow seemed to glisten on the fur trees as the sun shone through the clear sky. For some strange reason it didn't seem quite as chilly as before. Maybe it was just because it was daytime. Feeling more relaxed than earlier, Aurora decided to speak,  
"I wonder what Narnia would look like without snow," she commented. A whinnying laugh escaped Cornibus' mouth at her thoughts.  
"So do I child. I've heard stories you know, about Narnia before the queen's reign. They say it was an enchanted place, with bright sunny days, and luscious green fields. Do you remember the river we crossed over this morning?" he asked her, a dreamy quality in his voice.  
"Yes,"  
"Well could you imagine how amazing it would be to see that grand river flowing, not frozen like it is now. It leads into a massive lake that I think would be quite spectacular without being covered over with ice." Thinking it over, Aurora could see what he meant. She imagined the sparkling water rushing down at great speed before flowing out into a calm giant lake. It was something she badly wanted to see.  
"Will we ever see the river like that Cornibus?" she whispered sadly, "will I ever be able to come back to Narnia again, and see the green fields and swim in the lovely lake?" Sadness filled her with the thought of never being able to see Narnia in all its glory. She had never imagined how amazing and wonderful it would be. But would Aslan ever let her come back? Would any of the Narnians?  
"It's alright child," Cornibus comforted, seeming to sense her sad thoughts, "You are not your mother Aurora. One day, I'm sure, the Narnians will see that."  
Smiling albeit sadly, the princess leaned forward to hug the reindeer tightly, "Thank you for being my friend Cornibus," she whispered into his fur.

If Cornibus was a human then he most definitely would have been blushing. Touched by Aurora's kindness, he felt a strong surge of affection for the girl. He continued to run happily, as though there wasn't probably a herd of blood-thirsty wolves and a raging witch hunting them down at that very moment. After a few more hours of running at a calm steady pace, they reached what appeared to be the end of the woods. His brother stopped a few feet ahead of them,  
"We should wait until dark before leaving the cover of the trees," he suggested looking to Cornibus for his agreement.  
"Yes, I think that would be wise," he nodded, thinking of the terrifying huge vultures that swooped over Narnia, viciously ripping apart those who dared rebel against the queen.

They waited patiently in the woods before riding all through the night and into the morning. It was definitely less chilly than the previous day, with the snow not quite as thick and the ice thinner. The sun was brighter overhead than the reindeer had ever seen it, and it warmed them both to their very cores. The pleasantness of the day almost made them forget why they were running. They were filled with hope and faith in Aslan, so much so that they felt powerful, as though the queen's minions couldn't touch them in this bright new Narnia. Just as they were admiring the beautiful sun as they ran, the whole sky suddenly turned to black and Cornibus saw with horror that one of the very things he had been scared of the night before was happening.

Vultures swarmed around them, a terrifying sky of wings and claws. The reindeer ran on, terror driving them to move faster as Aurora clung to Cornibus' back with desperation, struggling the stay on. A scream escaped her lips as she felt them closing in around her, pecking at her and Cornibus viciously before she felt sharp talons ripping into her shoulders. Letting out a pained cry, she was hoisted up into the air, blood pouring out from the where the creature held her. Her vision blurred as tears streamed down her cheeks and an agonised scream forced its way out her throat. Below her all she saw was brown feathers as her mother's minions tore into her new friends. Wanting to call out to them she sobbed frightenedly, as the creature holding her flew off, back towards the ice castle. Back towards her mother.  
"NO!" she screamed again, shaking and wailing, "LET ME GO!" The evil bird only laughed in a squeaky cruel voice that made her sob even harder. Struggling, she tried to ignore the ripping feeling in her shoulders as the claws dug in further, and forcefully fought to escape from the vulture's clutches.

As they flew further away from rest of the monsters, hopelessness washed over the princess as though a bucket of ice water had been dropped over her head. Her mother was going to turn her to stone, or lock her away in the dungeon forever. Poor Tarandro and Cornibus. Thinking of the gruesome fates of her only friends caused a sharp stab of pain to pierce through her heart. This was all her fault.  
She didn't notice that below her the white landscape now had patches of green, or that the river that had not long ago had been frozen solid now rushed joyfully the way she had imagined it the day before.

She especially didn't notice the three figures watching her from the ground, until an arrow flew past her head and hit her captor directly in its stomach.  
Aurora cried out in shock as the two of them tumbled to the ground, the bird letting go of her shoulders and screeching wildly. She briefly noticed several voices shouting something as she fell before a figure appeared below her, and she crashed into somebody's arms, everything turning black.

 **I hope you enjoyed this part. Definitely a bit more exciting! Please let me know what you thought of it, any reviews would honestly make my day :)**


	7. The Little Princess - Part Seven

**I am so, so sorry about how long it took me to upload this. Please forgive me. I have been insanely busy, I've had extra dance rehearsal for shows and exams, one show and three big auditions that I had to travel for in the past two weeks as well as extra classes at school and being sick for a few days.**

 **I just finished writing this so I'll probably go back and clean it up a bit soon but I really wanted to get it out for you guys since I've been away for so long!**

 **This is the last part of The Little Princess and after this there will be a bit of a time jump so that Aurora is older. I can't wait to start working on the next part of the story, I hope you're excited too!**

 **Anyway, sorry for rambling. I hope you enjoy!**

 **The Little Princess - Part Seven**

Aurora was vaguely aware of someone holding her. The arms wrapped around her from behind brought her great comfort as she lay on the hard ground. Whoever held her seemed to be the only thing keeping her upright, and if she had any strength left then she would have clung to them with her own small arms. As it was though she couldn't even move, her entire body ached from the long fall, and her shoulders burned viciously. Something, was it somebody's hand, gently touched her chin, and she felt her mouth open before a drop of something so unbearably delicious fell onto her tongue. She wanted to savour the taste, but it was gone too fast, and she was left with a peculiar tingling warmth that rushed through her veins. As it travelled through her she felt the pain dull into nothing and she let out a blissful sigh of relief.

With her eyes still closed, the worried voices around her seemed to grow clearer as her brain gradually came back into focus.  
"Is it working?" somebody asked. A girl? She sounded a similar age to Aurora, and concern was evident in her quiet tone.  
"Give her some time Lu," a man replied. No wait, not a man. A boy? His voice wasn't deep like her father's but still sounded older and more mature than a boy of her age. "I'm sure she will wake once she's ready." he finished, wisely.  
"Who is she Peter? And what was that awful bird? Why did it capture her like that? I thought we were the only humans in Narnia?" an anxious-sounding girl rushed before being quietly shushed by the boy.  
"Let her rest Susan," he spoke calmly.

Peter cradled the small, fragile girl in his arms, watching with relief and amazement as the ugly gashes on her shoulders closed into faint red scars. It seemed impossible that such a small drop of the cordial had been able to heal her so fast, but then again, he really had witnessed stranger things in the past few days. He watched her curiously, wondering who she was and why she had been carried away by that cruel creature. She seemed so young and helpless, and it made him feel oddly protective over her. He looked over at the dead vulture sprawled on the grass a few feet away with disgust, before feeling the girl starting to stir.  
Her pale eyelids fluttered open, revealing a pair of big, round eyes so blue that it left him staring at her in awe for a few seconds. She was more beautiful than anyone he had ever seen, with porcelain skin and long blonde locks that shone golden in the sunlight. She looked around slowly before frowning, her lovely features suddenly seeming fearful and confused.

"It's alright," Peter said as comfortingly as he could, "you're safe now." Her bright eyes turned to him, and she eyed him suspiciously for a moment before relaxing slightly. Peter stood up slowly, helping her to stand as well.  
"How are you feeling?" he asked gently. She paused, looking at her healed shoulders with wide eyes and saying in a surprised but sweet voice, "I feel fine. It doesn't hurt anymore." Smiling, Peter was about to ask her for her name when Lucy jumped up and spoke enthusiastically, "I used my cordial on you and it worked! You were almost dead but we saved you. And Susan shot down that horrid bird so your safe now! You can come with us. We are going to Aslan's camp, and he's going to destroy the white witch and save our brother!"

"Lu," Peter sighed tiredly. He didn't want his sister to overwhelm the young girl. Looking at her, he noticed that the faint smile on her lips had vanished, and her already pale skin had turned positively ashen.  
"Are you alri..." he started but was interrupted by Susan, who spoke up from where she had been sitting with the beavers, "Who are you?" She sounded loud, almost threatening and the little girl took a frightened step away from her.  
"Susan don't..." Peter was interrupted again by his bossy sister's questioning,

"Why was that creature carrying you?" she continued suspiciously.  
"That was one of the White Witch's servants," Mr Beaver said wisely. His wife nodded.  
"Was she kidnapping you like she did with our brother?" Lucy asked the girl sympathetically. She didn't answer only taking another nervous step away from the group.  
"What's your name?" Mr Beaver asked, his little eyes narrowed.  
"And where was the vulture taking you?" Susan added. Anger bubbled up in Peter's stomach when he saw the scared look on the young girl's face. What was his sister playing at?!  
He tried to walk towards the girl to reassure her but she jumped away from him, still walking backwards towards the woods.  
"We don't want to hurt you," he held his hands up and looked at the panicked girl as kindly as he could, trying to show that he didn't mean any harm. Mr beaver stepped out in front of them all and was about to say something, when the girl suddenly bolted, fleeing into the shaded woods.  
"Come back!" Peter shouted, sprinting after her, ignoring the loud shouts coming from his sisters. She was faster than he could have anticipated as she darted in and around the trees, disappearing every so often from Peter's sight. Every time he tried calling, he was met with only silence, until an out-of-breath voice ordered, "Quiet Peter. Her spies are everywhere remember!"  
He hadn't realised Mr Beaver was following, and he called back, still running even though he could no longer see the girl, "She's just a child. We have to find her!"  
He ran on for a few more moments before stopping, realising that he didn't know his way around the woods. Doubled over, with his hands on his knees, he fought to catch his breath. Where could she possibly have gone?  
"She isn't just any child though," Mr Beaver said quietly. Peter looked at him questioningly.  
"What do you mean?" The large beaver only shook his head, seeming to ponder whether or not to say something. Eventually he murmured,  
"I've heard rumours, and I didn't believe them I'll admit. But..." he shook his head, frowning, trailing off into silence. Suddenly curious, although equally frustrated Peter interrupted Mr Beaver's thoughts, "What rumours?" Again, the beaver remained lost in his quiet wonderings, leaving Peter to question whether he'd even heard, before the creature looked up straight into the young man's eyes.  
"I have reason to believe, Peter, that we may have just met the White Witch's daughter."

Aurora ran and ran through the dark, unknown woods, frightened tears streaming down her flushed cheeks and clouding her vision. She was so scared and lost, what should she do now? The boy who had comforted her had seemed so kind and caring, as did the younger girl with short brown hair and blue-green eyes. Her shoulders truly did feel better with hardly even a scratch, and they had saved her from being dragged back to her evil, and no doubt angry, mother. But the younger girl had said they were going to see Aslan, and destroy the white witch. Would they destroy Aurora too once they knew who she was? Would Aslan be angry with her for all the pain her mother had caused? And she was so sure that the older girl with the long dark hair was suspicious of her, as were the two talking beavers. Would they have handed her over to Aslan? Her fears swarmed through her mind viciously causing her to collapse in a broken heap sobbing. Oh, how badly she wanted to be home with her aunts.  
Aurora cried until she had no tears left. Her heart broke for her two new friends. The reindeer had died for her, because she had asked them to help her escape. And now she was lost and alone with nobody to save her. She was terrified of how her mother would punish her once she found her, and equally as scared of what Aslan would do.  
She was lying there, feeling utterly hopeless and alone, when she suddenly felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up, a shiver running down her spine, alerting her that she was no longer alone. Someone was behind her.  
Slowly, she forced her stiff legs to stand up, her heart racing. It was eerily dark in the sheltered woods, with a slight chill cutting through her dress. Fear rushed through her, tensing her muscles Just as she went to turn around a low growl came from behind her.  
"We found you, little princess."  
Whipping around, Aurora barely had time to scream before the massive wolf was on top of her, it's sharp claws digging into her arms and it's razor teeth clashing above her head. Shrieking wildly, Aurora fought desperately with every last bit of strength she had. The creature leapt back suddenly, almost gracefully, before ripping it's knife-like teeth into her leg. Howling in agony, she felt herself being dragged away on her back, the twigs on the ground tearing at her clothes angrily. Her vision turned blurry and she was only vaguely aware of her beloved cloak being ripped away as her head banged against every rock and stick. The moans coming from her lips didn't sound like hers, they were too pained and helpless. Just as she felt her mind losing focus, she heard something that sounded like hooves, as well as the sound of a sleigh cutting through the thin layer of snow, before her bloody leg was released. The last thing she heard before it all turned black was a horrible yelp, and a familiar voice calling her name.

It could've been mere seconds or several hours, it was impossible to tell, before Aurora felt herself drifting out of unconsciousness for the second time that day. Her leg throbbed viciously, as did her bruised skull. When she opened her heavy eyes this time, there wasn't a couple of curious children and two furry beavers standing over her, but instead a large round man with a long white beard and wrinkled, but kind eyes. He smiled a gentle smile when he saw her awaken and reached down to help her sit up.  
"Slowly now, that does it," he encouraged in a calm yet cheery tone, "you've had quite a day now,haven't you young lady? At least, that's what your friend tells me, " he gestured behind him with a grin.  
Looking over, she saw a tall white creature with two huge antlers, standing a few feet away beside an impressive wooden sleigh. He was covered from head to hoof in horribly gruesome cuts although he still stood proud. Forgetting about her injuries, the princess leapt up as fast as she could and limped over to him ignoring the protests of her bloody leg.  
"Tarandro," she cried gleefully, a sob escaping her lips, "I thought you were dead!" She threw her arms around him and wept into his soft fur. He was alright! Aurora couldn't believe he was there. She clung to him, feeling a shred of hope for the first time since the vulture attack.  
"Shhh Princess, it's alright," he soothed, his deep voice sounding gruff and exhausted. "I'm here now," She continued to hug him tightly for a few moments before looking up at him and frowning.  
"Where's Cornibus?" she asked, scanning the woods for any sign of the other large white creature. Tarandro seemed to choke slightly before whispering in a broken, heart-shattering voice, "He isn't... here Aurora. The... the birds, they, well, he didn't... he didn't make it." As he stuttered and bowed his large head down in such a sad, defeated way Aurora could only stare at him in shock. His words froze her, her heart stopping for a second in total disbelief. Yes she had thought them both to be dead only moments before, but Tarandro had survived, why hadn't Cornibus?  
"But..." she started, her heart squeezing painfully tight in her chest, her throat closing and breaths becoming sharper. Cornibus wasn't dead. He couldn't be!  
"I don't understand," she whispered. The kind man from earlier rested a hand comfortingly on her shoulder and explained, "I was just leaving Narnia, when I came across those evil creatures attacking your friends. I was able to step in and chase them away, however I'm afraid I arrived too late and was only able to save Tarandro," he shook his head sadly, "I'm terribly sorry." It hit Aurora that her friend was actually gone, and she burst into a fresh flood of tears. By now she was surprised she even had any tears left, it felt as though all she had done in the past day was cry. The pain of Cornibus' death was ten times worse than that of her injured leg or bruised head. This pain stabbed at her stomach and her chest, feeling as though it was breaking her to pieces. It was all her fault. She buried her head into Tarandro's side, unaware that he too was crying. The guilt was overwhelming, as she struggled to process what had happened. He had been so eager to see Narnia in summer and now he never would.

Eventually, she forced herself to hold back the sobs and dry her eyes. What were they going to do now? As if reading her mind the kind man said, "Now that we have found you Aurora, we must leave this country. Tarandro has informed me of your plan to travel home, and as I am heading out of Narnia as well, I shall be pleased to take you to Archenland, where I am sure the king there will help you return to your father."  
Surprised that this stranger was helping them, Aurora could only answer with a simple, "Thank you," unable to find the words to show how truly grateful she was for his kindness. Who could be so generous? As she admired his grand sleigh and the beautiful brown reindeer pulling it, a thought crossed her mind. It was only then that she really looked at the stranger, with his round belly and red cloak.  
It couldn't be, could it?  
The man simply chuckled at her bewildered expression, and spoke cheerily, "Come Aurora, into the sleigh now. Your father will be eager to see you," Nodding, her mouth still hanging open at figuring out who the man in front of her was, Aurora climbed into the comfortable sleigh before a realisation dawned on her, "Oh Tarandro you must come too!" she cried, seeing that her friend was still standing beside the sleigh watching her silently.  
"I wish I could Aurora," he sighed, looking ashamed, "I don't feel I have the strength to help pull a sleigh." Father Christmas chuckled, startling the sad reindeer. "Why Tarandro, you don't need to pull the sleigh, there is plenty of room inside it. We might need to shuffle some stuff around but I'm sure we'll manage."  
Trying not to seem too relieved, the reindeer thanked the kind man and the three of them squeezed into the beautiful sleigh, feeling slightly cramped but too relieved for it to bother them.

As they rode through the quickly disappearing snow, Aurora saw her first glimpse of the Narnia Cornibus had so fondly spoken of, with it's wonderful green hills, and sparkling rivers. As she thought of him she smiled, she was sure he was watching over them. Maybe he even got to see the great Aslan he admired so much. The thought of the powerful lion still caused nausea to build in her stomach, but she knew that her friends followed him, and so he must be good to them.  
Tarandro lay in the back of the sleigh, his breaths ragged, and she was sure she even saw him crying at some point, probably thinking of his poor brother. Seeing how hurt he was only caused her to feel more guilty, and she vowed that once they made it home she would make sure he had a luxurious stable and a huge grassy field where he could be free to come and go as he pleased. He would get any food he wanted, and she would come and see him every single day. Aurora told him this and he chuckled at her sounding a little brighter than before. After a moment though he seemed to frown and ask, "Would your father let a talking reindeer in his kingdom? One that was a servant of the white witch?"  
Aurora paused for a second, thinking it over before nodding with certainty "Yes, I'm sure he would."  
As they neared the end of Narnia, Aurora turned around to watch the sun set over what had been her home for the past year, and she smiled at the land sadly, silently saying her goodbyes.

 **Thanks for reading. Any review, follows or feedback would be very deeply appreciated. I'd really love to know your thoughts on this part of the story, and maybe what you would like to see more of in the next part.**

 **Until next time... :)**


	8. Return to Narnia - Part One

**Return to Narnia - Part One**

 _7 years later..._

The glorious Narnian landscape appeared before her, and she smiled as Tarandro let out a delighted whinny at the site of his beloved home in all of its true, green beauty. The land was luscious and alive, almost unrecognisable as the place she had spent that dreadful year in when she was younger.

"It is so beautiful Tarandro," she whispered to the huge reindeer beside her. His eyes sparkled with joy as he looked over at her. She was slightly taller than him when she was mounted on her pretty, yet unable to speak, horse Skye, and she looked enchanting with her long hair flowing behind her in the wind, and her sapphire eyes so bright that they were nearly impossible to turn away from. She was as pale as ever from the years she had spent inside her father's castle, his constant fear and paranoia making her stay inside where it was safe, at all times. Though in that moment her cheeks were flushed from the heat, and she seemed so much freer, in spite of the small army that surrounded them to ensure her protection.

"I never thought I would live to see this, princess," he told her softly, "This is what we reindeer have dreamed of for generations."

Aurora felt his joy, and beamed for her friend. She thought of Cornibus, as she often did, and smiled at knowing that his dream for a free Narnia had come true.

She glanced at the man beside her, who was sitting tall on a brilliant white horse. His skin was a few shades darker than hers, and his short, light brown hair appearing lighter than it was in the gleam of the sun. His eyes were an attractive almond colour, and he was watching her with a curious expression.

"It is quite lovely" he said in a clear, and slightly concerned tone, "are you sure you would like to enter this land Aurora? Maybe it would be best if I travelled there first with some men and..."

"The Narnian's are gentle people Prince Phillip, I don't expect any harm will come to the princess." Tarandro interrupted, evidently annoyed at having to explain this to the prince for what seemed like the hundredth time.

"Please don't worry Phillip," Aurora said in her gentle, soft voice. She had reached over and touched the prince's arm reassuringly. "The kings and queens are said to be very kind, and we really need their help if we are to stop the Nushanian army from invading our home." News of the violent Nushanian leader King Amor's desires to invade the Kindom of Fraye (Aurora's kindom), were spreading rapidly. Nushana was a powerful, huge country and even with the help of King Hubert (Prince Phillip's father) the Frayan's didn't stand a chance.

Aurora knew how much her father loved his kingdom. Thinking of him, she was reminded of when she escaped Narnia 7 years ago, and realised how wrong she had been about her father. He had cried with relief when she arrived back at the castle in Father Christmas' sleigh. She remembered how he had lifted her up into his arms and sobbed into her hair. "I'm so sorry sweetheart," he wept, "I love you so much. I should have told you. I am so sorry." Aurora still didn't know the full story about how her mother and father met, he would never tell her. All she knew was that he took her from the witch to keep her safe, and had since lived in fear that the witch would return to take her, even after he heard about the witch's demise.

Phillip reached across and squeezed her hand, "I know princess. I just don't want you to be in any danger." he said. She smiled reassuringly, "I won't be. They have agreed to this meeting, I'm sure they are willing to hear us out." Her mind filled with images of angry kings screaming "WITCH" and a huge lion stalking towards her, its big teeth gleaming threateningly, and she wished that she believed her words to be true.

* * *

King Edmund paced the grounds, feeling the weight of his precious sword in his hands. Ever since Peter had agreed to this meeting he had been on edge. He sliced at a training dummy to his left. The daughter of the monster that he had once trusted was coming to Narnia. He shouldn't let her. He should kill her with his sword the second she enters the country. _His_ country.

He thrust his sword into another dummy.

"You should come inside and clean up, they are due to arrive in a few hours," his older sister Susan had appeared in the doorway to the castle. She had grown into a lovely woman, very fond of her country, and a good queen. She was the only one of the siblings, apart from Edmund, who had been against agreeing to this meeting. She understood her brother's frustrations and had her own suspicions about the mysterious princess. Susan had met her, and thought her to be _too_ beautiful. Something about her made Susan uncomfortable. Perhaps it was the way Peter had reacted upon finding her, how his face changed when he saw how lovely she was. He had cradled this stranger in his arms and treated her so carefully, becoming upset when she ran away. One of his first orders as king was to send people out to search for her, though of course she had vanished. And now she wanted their help! It was strange. Susan didn't like it.

A female centaur with red hair entered the garden.

"I'm sorry to interrupt your majesty, but we have just had word that the Frayans have entered Narnia."

Edmund looked at his sister, before addressing the centaur, "make sure we have soldiers watching them at all times. They are not to be trusted."

 **Wow it has been over a year since I last updated this, I am so sorry, that's way too long! This is the next part of the story, I hope you enjoy. I can't wait to bring the pevensies into this now. Please tell me if there is anything you would like to see in this story, I am really open to ideas. Thanks to all who have favourited/followed and reviewed. It honestly means the world :)**


	9. Return to Narnia - Part Two

**Return to Narnia - Part Two**

High King Peter sat on his on his grand, stone throne, his calm demeanour masking his nervous excitement. He had often wondered about the beautiful girl they had rescued all those years ago, and was secretly thrilled to be able to see her again. His brother Edmund sat to his right, completely still, the tension in his body obvious. Peter understood that the younger king was wary- he had after all been talked into betraying his entire family by the beautiful white witch once. He had made it very clear that he thought this mysterious princess would be the same as her mother - deceiving and cruel. But Edmund hadn't met her, and Peter had. Peter remembered seeing her suffering in the claws of the witch's evil servants, and looking into her deep blue eyes that were filled with innocence and fear. It was as clear as day to the high king that this girl was not her mother, no matter what anyone else had told him, and Lucy had seen it as well.

"There was nothing threatening about her," Lucy had explained in their last family argument about the girl. "She didn't have the same..." the youngest sibling stopped, trying to think of the right word, " _coldness_ as the white witch."

"That means nothing!" Edmund had yelled back. "She could have ways to hide her powers. Did you ever thing of that? We can't risk bringing another witch back into Narnia!" His voice was loud, his tone accusing.

"We don't know that she is a witch," Peter had snapped at his brother, feeling strangely defensive about the girl.

He was still looking at his brother and for the first time began to feel pity forming in his chest. Edmund had spent years trying to make up for betraying them. It hadn't mattered how many times they told him he was forgiven, the younger man was too full of guilt and tortured himself with it every day. Peter thought of how difficult this situation must be for him, facing the daughter of someone who had caused him so much misery.

Edmund turned his head and locked eyes with him. "It's not too late to change our minds," he murmured, a slight plea in his tone.

Just then the redheaded centaur entered the throne room,

"They have arrived your majesties."

Peter shook his head at his brother. "Yes it is," he said quietly.

Then he turned his head towards the giant doors at the opposite end of the room, his heart thudding in anticipation. "Send them in."

* * *

Aurora breathed in slowly, trying and failing to calm her racing heart. They were standing in a large room in the front of Cair Paravel. The castle was magnificent, located high on a hill, with giant stone walls and windows looking out over the blue-green sea. She struggled to truly admire its beauty however, as she was growing more and more anxious by the second. The journey across Narnia had been painful - the suspicious looks and hateful glares she received from everyone she passed were glued to the front and centre of her mind, making her uncomfortable. They had been met at the border by a small, yet impressive group of guards that guided them to the castle, often throwing curious looks at her over their shoulders. She had almost forgotten about the huge mix of strange creatures that resided here, but was quickly reminded by the crowds of fauns, centuars, giants and talking animals that gathered wherever they went. She noticed with relief, and also with worry, that she hadn't seen any dwarfs, minotaurs, or hags. There weren't even any wolves! It seemed the Narnians hadn't been forgiving towards those who had served her mother. The thought made her shiver.

Phillip stood protectively close to her. Her friend was angry at the way the Narnians had looked at her. Only the two of them and their royal advisor Marcus had been allowed inside the castle, adding to his anger. The rest of the Frayans were forced to remain outside, including Tarandro. Aurora could tell that Phillip's patience was starting to wear thin with the Narnians already, which made her nervous. She just hoped he would control his temper in front of the kings and queens. Her father was depending on them to get the Narnian's help and she knew she couldn't let Phillip's overprotectiveness compromise this meeting.

Marcus had briefed them on how to behave long before they reached Narnia. He was a short, pudgy man with thin mousy brown hair tied in a long ponytail behind him. Despite his lazy appearance, Marcus was an excellent advisor, trusted wholeheartedly by the king of Fraye. Aurora was very glad of his presence, knowing that he would help her convince the Narnians to aid their kingdom, and he would also be able to help control Phillip's temper if it got out of hand.

"Remember what I told you about presentation princess," Marcus spoke quietly, "Be polite and answer any of their questions honestly. Show them you are not who they think you are."

Aurora nodded at him nervously.

A centaur that Aurora thought to be quite beautiful with long red locks walked out of the room in front of them and announced that the kings and queens were ready to see them. Aurora smiled timidly at the woman and followed her through the large golden door that was now being held open by two fauns. To her annoyance, Phillip had placed himself in front of her as they walked through, causing her to be slightly hidden behind his tall, broad form. She walked behind him, her footsteps silent compared to the loud thudding of his boots. He stopped as they reached the front of the room, and she stepped out shyly from behind him.

There was a sharp intake of breath.

She looked up at the noise and was met with a pair of beautiful chocolate brown eyes that seemed to stare straight through her and into her soul. He couldn't have been older than twenty, with a slim face and full, pink lips that were hanging slightly open in a surprised expression. His skin was pale, contrasting with the dark brown hair that fell in waves over his forehead. She felt an unexpected, slightly embarrassing urge to run her hands through his hair and was shocked at herself for it. He was breathtakingly handsome. Aurora blushed when she realised she had been staring. She tore her gaze away from the gorgeous stranger who continued to watch at her intensely, his slender hands gripping the throne so hard his knuckles were turning white.

Her cheeks were still pink as she glanced over the three other figures on the thrones. She remembered them from their brief encounter years ago, though they had changed considerably.

The girl on the throne furthest to the right looked to be about Aurora's age with long reddish brown hair and rosy cheeks. She was smiling at her, her warm green eyes wide with curiosity. Next to her sat another woman, older and even more beautiful. She had similar features to the handsome king with her pale skin and dark hair, but her expression was less friendly than that of the girl beside her. Her blue-green eyes were narrowed suspiciously and her pretty pink lips were pressed together in an intense expression.

The other man on the throne wore a gentle smile. He seemed so happy, delighted even to see her. His blond hair was straighter than the other kings, and his eyes were a familiar light blue. He looked so much older than when she last saw him, so much stronger and more powerful. It was obvious that he was the high king. She remembered being in his arms when she was little. He had been so kind, she was ashamed that she had ran from him when he seemed to want to help her.

"Kings and Queens of Narnia I present to you Prince Phillip," Marcus declared in an elegant voice gesturing to the prince, "and Princess Aurora."

Phillip stepped forward and bowed, but the kings and queens were all watching the Princess. Aurora smiled at them and curtseyed gracefully. She avoided looking at the handsome king she had been so dazzled by as she could feel him still staring at her.

"The Prince and Princess have travelled from the far away kingdom of Fraye to ask the people of Narnia for their assistance. The Nushanian leader King Amor is rumoured to be planning an attack on Fraye, for reasons still unknown, and King Stefan believes that even with the help of King Hubert's army, they will still be too weak to defend Fraye," Marcus explained in his clear voice.

Aurora looked at the royals for their reaction. King Peter was frowning, as were the two queens, but the other king, who Aurora had figured out was King Edmund, was still staring at her. She locked eyes with him again and noticed that he seemed angry. Actually no, not angry. Enraged.

"That does sound like a serious problem," King Peter agreed in a soft voice, "it might be wise to discuss this further, in our meeting room." He smiled at her again.

Shocked, Aurora couldn't believe how easy that had been. The unfriendly Narnians from earlier had convinced her they would be thrown into the dungeons the second they entered the throne room. Phillip also seemed surprised and nodded at the king, "Thank you King Peter. We appreciate the chance to explain our worries, and also to clear up some, _misunderstandings_ that we might have," he said the last bit with a more threatening tone and King Peter's friendly eyes narrowed.

Aurora had never felt such a strong urge to hit someone in her entire life. It was obvious he had been talking about her, and the unfriendliness directed towards her by some Narnians. The ones who thought she was a witch. She knew that the prince was only trying to defend her, but seriously?! Things had been going so well.

"Yes, that sounds like a wonderful idea," the younger queen added enthusiastically, perhaps trying to ease the tension that was building.

King Edmund leaned forward on his throne, the movement drawing Aurora's attention. She flinched when she saw the fury in his eyes. Fury that was directed at her. Even angry he was attractive, but also very, very scary. She noticed the other royals glancing at him as well, and Phillip glared at him, having only just noticed his murderous expression.

"Perhaps we should let you rest first," Peter said, his blue eyes flickering over to his brother anxiously. "You have had a long journey. Dawn here will show you to your rooms." He gestured towards the pretty centaur from earlier, who nodded at them and walked out of the room, indicating that they should follow her.

"Yes your majesty. Thank you for your time. We shall talk later," Marcus rambled, seeming alarmed at the sudden turn the meeting had taken.

Aurora forced her eyes away from the livid brown ones, and followed the woman out. Phillip put a hand on her back to lead her away, and where she normally would have felt comforted by him, he had got on her nerves by bringing up the fact that the Narnians thought she was evil. She resisted the urge to glare at him, and instead looked straight ahead, trying so hard to forget about the hatred the dark-haired king appeared to feel for her.

* * *

Edmund couldn't believe it. She was stunning. So beautiful she made her mother seem like a hag. Blood pounded in his ears. The second he had looked into those bright sapphire eyes, his heart had stopped. He could feel his mouth hanging open as the angel, with the perfect porcelain skin and long, golden hair, stared back at him. He had forgotten who she was and couldn't help but be drawn to her. Then her soft cheeks had tinted pink, in the most adorable way, and she turned to look at his sisters.

The moment was broken. He had continued to stare at her, unable to look away. The rage started to build inside him. Her doll-like face had made him forget that she was evil, dangerous, that he hated her. As she curtseyed, she seemed graceful, yet shy. Not like the witch at all. The man that presented her explained why they were there, and the younger king felt himself growing angrier, filled with disbelief that the daughter of the tyrant who had nearly ruined Narnia was asking for their help. And he was shocked to find that he felt himself _wanting_ to help her. He felt drawn to her in a way he couldn't explain - it must've been a spell. Peter had heard them out without hesitation! Without a single thought about how she might be tricking them!

And then the prince had started to talk about " _misunderstandings_ ". Edmund could feel his face heating up, the anger he was feeling growing into complete and utter fury. This stupid prince was defending her. He had no idea what he was talking about. Edmund leaned forward on his throne, prepared to attack the idiot if he continued imply that the Narnian's treatment of her had been wrong. The princess glanced at him again and he felt a pang of guilt when she flinched at his expression. This only made him angrier. Why should he feel guilty?! She was obviously faking her fear - she probably had the power to turn them all to stone in a second! Or maybe she had her own tricks that they hadn't witnessed before.

Peter had sent the three away, and began to lecture Edmund on his behaviour.

"What the hell was that?!" the older king yelled, "You looked like you were about to leap off your throne and attack them!"

Edmund hardly even heard him. His thoughts were too preoccupied by his confused feelings, the image of those big blue eyes imprinted on his brain.

 **I hope you enjoyed this part. Please let me know how you feel about it. Thank you so much for reading, it means the world! :)**

 **Constructive criticism and ideas for the story are really appreciated.**


	10. Return to Narnia - Part Three

**Return to Narnia - Part Three**

As she lay on the soft, red bedsheet in the lavishly decorated guest bedroom, her mind wandered back to her previous time in Narnia. The country had changed so much in just seven years. The cold, wet and unfriendly land now felt warm, and she imagined that if she were anyone else then she would feel very welcomed here. As it was, she was definitely _not_ welcome and King Edmund's murderous glare had only proved it. She had felt a lot of anger directed towards her since she had returned, but for reasons she couldn't understand, his had managed to hurt her more than the rest. She couldn't get over how gorgeous he was, she had never met anybody so attractive. She hated that he hated her, and wished that she could prove that she wasn't who he thought she was. Sighing, she thought to herself about how unfair it all was. She hadn't inherited any of her mother's powers, and she'd never wished any harm upon anybody. She didn't deserve this reputation.

She could hear footsteps in the room next to hers - Phillip's room. He was pacing, a habit he had formed when he was stressed. Aurora thought of him, and felt a stab of annoyance. She didn't like how protective he was of her, always getting angry if he thought she wasn't being treated with the utmost respect.

" _He only does it because he cares for you_ ," she reminded herself, rubbing her temples. However, thinking of how much Phillip cared for her only stressed her out more, because he seemed to care about her a little too much. Aurora had her suspicions about her father wanting her to marry the prince, but she couldn't imagine loving him as more than a friend. She couldn't imagine marrying anyone actually, she was only fifteen, although King Edmund's face did pop into her head for a brief second.

She ran her hands through her hair, feeling frustrated. Why couldn't she stop thinking about that bloody king?! He clearly wanted nothing more than to cut her head off with his sword and then throw her lifeless body off a cliff! At least Phillip didn't want her dead. In that sense he did seem like the better option. However, he was eight years older than her, and he seemed to be under the impression that this gave him permission to boss her around.

There was a gentle knock on her door. She sat up, trying to clear her head of confusing thoughts about marriage and kings.

"Come in," she called softly.

The large door opened and in entered the centaur that brought her to her room.

"King Peter has asked me to bring you to the meeting room downstairs, your highness," she explained in a light, airy voice.

"Of course," Aurora stood up and went to follow the woman, "It's Dawn, isn't it?" she asked politely.

The centaur looked at her with a frown, then answered, "Yes it is, your highness. If you would like to come this way." She headed towards the stairs.

"That's such a pretty name," the princess sighed with a smile. They continued through the long carpeted hallways, before she added, "The name Aurora means Dawn."

The redhead looked back at her, surprised. She seemed to hestitate for a second, like she wanted to say something. Aurora smiled at her, shyly. The centaur slowly smiled back, and asked in a hushed voice, "Was it your mother who named you?"

Aurora felt her smile fade at the mention of her mother, and she paused for a second before answering truthfully, "No it was actually my father. He said my birth was the dawn of a new day for him. That he felt himself becoming a better man when he became a father. That was why he chose it," she shrugged. Then she added with a laugh, "if my mother named me I would probably be called Death or Ice or something grim like that."

She saw the centaurs eyebrows lift in surprise at her joke, and then the woman began to laugh, letting out a loud snort. The princess suddenly felt happier, and she laughed along with her for a few moments. She decided that she liked Dawn.

They ended up outside a tall wooden door, guarded by two fauns heavily clad in Narnian armour. Upon their arrival one of them opened the door, and the princess smiled at him, and walked in, calling out a "Thank you Dawn, Goodbye."

Everyone looked up as she entered the smaller room, and she glanced at the floor, suddenly feeling very timid and shy. She walked over to the long table they were all sat at, and carefully took a seat in between Phillip and Marcus, who she was surprised to see had arrived before her. It seemed she was the last one there. She blushed at the thought, realising that she had spent more time than she thought talking to Dawn. Marcus' most used phrase popped into her head, " _A princess should NEVER be late to anything. Punctuality is of great importance!"_ She looked up at Marcus, and inwardly winced at the disapproving look he gave her.

"I hope you had a suitable rest and your rooms are to your liking," King Peter broke the silence with his friendly voice. He was sat at the head of the table. In the three seats on the other side of the table sat the other royals, and Aurora's stomach plummeted when she realised where she was actually sitting. Directly opposite King Edmund. He was looking down at the table, and she swallowed, before remembering what King Peter had said.

"Yes thank you, the rooms are lovely," she told him, gratefully. She realised that it was the first time she had actually spoken to them.

She felt King Edmund's eyes snap up to her, but the second she made eye contact he looked away again. King Peter's voice brought her back to the topic at hand when he spoke, "I'm glad. Now, we are very interested in hearing about your worries regarding King Amor," he sounded genuinely interested, and asked with a frown, "What leads you to believe that he is planning an attack on Fraye,"

For the next thirty minutes or so Aurora hadn't had the chance to speak at all, much to her frustration. Marcus and Phillip had taken it upon themselves to explain to the Narnians everything about the rumours of King Amor's plans and how her and Phillip's father's were at their castle planning how best to protect the kingdom. Their two armies combined weren't even half the size of the Nushanian army, Nushana was such an enormous country, and they desperately needed help if they were to stand any chance of protecting Fraye.

"But what do you expect us to do?" Queen Susan spoke up. She sent a dirty look to Aurora before continuing, "You can't ask us to send our army to Fraye. Our people are angry enough that we even let her in here. There will be an outcry if we help you!"

There was an angry murmur from Phillip and Marcus, and Peter looked as though he was just about to protest to his sister's words when Aurora surprised everyone, by speaking up herself, "We completely understand that. We would never ask such a thing," she reassured, looking at the stunning queen, "We only ask that you speak to King Amor, and try to persuade him against attacking us. Or at least find out what it is he wants from us. We understand that you have traded with the Nushanians before?" She finished, continuing to look at the queen, knowing that there was a plea in her eyes.

The queen's expression changed. She was still very suspicious, but there was less of a glare in her gaze. "We have traded with the Nushanians in the past, you are right about that," she nodded, "but we haven't had any connection with Fraye in the entire time we have ruled here. I presume your mother had when she was the self-proclaimed ruler of Narnia," everyone tensed at the mention of the white witch, "but just because _she_ had a relationship with your father doesn't mean that we are in anyway inclined to help you," the queen finished proudly.

"This isn't about the white witch Susan," Queen Lucy argued, voicing her opinion for the first time, "This is about Fraye. We can't just leave an entire kingdom to fend for themselves. They will be destroyed!"

"Yes Lucy I understand that, but we can't trust her. Not after everything her mother did," Susan answered sharply.

Aurora had a feeling it would come to this. She couldn't blame them for not trusting her - her mother had been a master of manipulation and it was only smart to assume that she would be as well.

"I know that you have no reason to trust me," the blonde looked at them all, speaking in a soft voice, "It would be silly of you to believe me. We all know how good my mother was at lying." She glanced at Edmund to see that he was watching her. There was no anger in his eyes, only confusion. Like he was trying to figure her out. "If you would just give me the chance to explain, I'll tell you anything you want to know," she finished, hoping that they would listen.

Susan looked caught off guard by her openness. "Okay," the queen said thoughtfully, "How close were you to your mother?"

Relief came over Aurora. They were going to hear her out.

"I hardly knew her," the princess replied honestly, "I was raised in Fraye. I actually believed my mother to be dead until about eight years ago."

"How come you were in Narnia then?" Susan asked with raised eyebrows and a challenging look on her face.

Aurora began to explain, "Well, I had just found out that my father was the king," everyone looked at her in confusion. "He sent me away to live with three fairies in the woods when I was a baby, to protect me from my mother," she elaborated quickly, "So I didn't know who my parents were. Then one day I overheard the fairies squabbling, they argued a lot you see, and they mentioned my father. I questioned them about him and eventually they caved and took me to his castle.

"As you can imagine, he wasn't happy that they told me about him. He wouldn't tell me who my mother was - even the fairies didn't seem to know. Then a couple of nights later, I was lying in bed and suddenly a green light appeared in the fireplace. It morphed into the figure of this really tall lady with horns, and she told me that my mother was in another land and that she wanted me to return to her. I knew it wasn't a good idea but I was just so curious about meeting her, so I followed the lady out of the castle and she took me to Narnia. I stayed with my mother for about a year. When you rescued me that day, that was when I was trying to escape her," she finished, watching the royals for their reactions.

It was quiet for a moment before, much to her shock, it was Edmund's voice that broke the silence. He asked quietly, "Why were you running away?"

She looked into his dark eyes, and thought of the dream she'd had,

 _Waking suddenly, she discovered herself lying on something damp and smelly. Looking down, she saw that it was hay. She was in the stables. It was as cold as the day before, and she was alone, no friendly reindeer in sight. Her stomach tightened into knots for a second before a realisation dawned on her, she was dreaming. Relieved, though still feeling a little wary, she cautiously stood up, wrapping her bare arms around herself to fight off the chill that had seeped right through her and into her bones. Aurora had the oddest sensation that something was about to happen, something important. She waited, although she couldn't say what she was waiting for, just that she was supposed to. Out of nowhere a loud voice spoke, breaking the silence. It was gentle, but also powerful and terrible enough to make the hairs on the back of her neck stand up."Your friends speak the truth, little one," it wisely stated, in a deep and melodic tone, "they are kind souls, and they shall help you, but you MUST do as I say. Leave Narnia at once, for you are no longer safe here. Travel back to your father and aunts. They miss you dearly. Be brave Aurora, and always remember that no matter how you feel you are never alone."_

"I had a dream," she didn't realise she was nearly whispering, "there was a voice in it that told me I needed to leave. And..." she hesitated before saying the next part. Before admitting to her biggest reason for leaving, "My friends told me my mother was about to be defeated. And I was scared of what the other Narnians would do to me if she was. If they would kill me as well."

She had been looking down at the table, and she slowly looked up, half expecting them to tell her she was a monster too, and that she should be punished alongside her mother. However that was not the case. Lucy and Peter looked at her sympathetically and even Susan seemed to have a hint of pity in her blue-green eyes. Edmund looked even more confused but she could see a sadness in there too. She briefly wondered if the sadness was for her, then told herself that would be ridiculous.

"We appreciate your honesty," Peter told her gently, "And I want to reassure you that while you are in Narnia no harm will come to you,"

"Yes, you were just a child then. We don't hold you accountable for any of the witch's actions," Lucy added kindly.

"I agree, it would be unfair to judge you based on stuff that happened when you were so young," Susan said, somewhat reluctantly.

Edmund remained silent.

Touched by their kindness, Aurora could feel her face lighting up in a soft smile. "Thank you," she said gratefully.

"And I shall write to King Amor just now, and see about arranging a meeting," Peter told them.

"Thank you King Peter," Philip spoke for the first time in a while, sounding delighted, "That means a great deal to us."

Aurora had almost forgotten Phillip's presence, and she looked at him happily, feeling hope for the first time in a while.

 **Thank you so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed this part. I'm so excited to begin exploring the different relationships between Aurora and each of the Pevensies.**

 **Also a huge thank you to everyone who reviewed, followed and favourited, it means a great deal to me.**

 **All follows and reviews are really appreciated and any constructive criticism is welcome :)**

 **Until next time...**


	11. Return to Narnia - Part Four

**Return to Narnia - Part Four**

The next morning, all happiness Aurora had felt the night before had vanished, as she found herself sitting in a dreadful silence at a large, circular dining table. The tension in the room was stifling, and she bit her lip nervously. Around her were three of the four royals, the gorgeous brown-eyed king was nowhere to be seen. Aurora tried to push away her disappointment at his absence. It made no sense for her to feel that way about a man she didn't even know, and especially one that hated her so much.

The other three looked just as uncomfortable as her - it seemed that nobody knew what to say. She silently cursed Phillip and Marcus for not being there. The Prince was apparently busy checking on his soldiers, who were actually _her_ soldiers as most of them were Frayan, and Marcus had claimed to be feeling fatigued after the long journey the day before. It was very unusual for them to leave her unsupervised, and although she was glad of the freedom, she knew that both the prince and her advisor were far better conversationalists than her.

"The food is lovely," she tried. It wasn't a lie, there was a huge array of different foods laid across the table, everything from sweet pastries and cooked meats to colourful yogurts and fresh fruits.

Peter smiled back at her, "I'm glad you like it," he answered, then paused before adding, "I remember our first meal here as kings and queens. It was a magnificent feast, I was so shocked at how wonderful the food here was, unlike anything we had ever had before" he laughed, a reminiscent look in his eyes.

"And the music the Narnian's played for us that night was so different to the music we were used to. I remember Peter saying it was the most beautiful thing he had ever heard, do you remember that Susan?" Lucy said cheerfully.

Susan's eyes seemed to light up at the memory, "Of course!" she exclaimed, "I haven't thought about that night in so long. It really was special," she sighed.

Aurora looked between the siblings and asked hesitantly, "Can I ask where it is you all come from originally?"

It went quiet again for a second, nobody seemed to want to answer.

"Sorry that was too personal a question, forget I asked," she brushed off, slightly panicked that they would be mad at her for asking. She always felt so paranoid around them, like any wrong step she took would have them suddenly accusing her of being a witch and feeding her to Aslan.

Lucy surprised her by laughing, "Don't worry about it, it's just a little difficult to explain is all."

Susan added, "I don't think you'd even believe us if we told you,"

Aurora frowned in confusion before Peter clarified, "It is a bit of a crazy story."

"Oh," she mumbled. She picked up a croissant and bit into it, savouring it's buttery flavour. "Well the food here is much better than what I'm used to as well."

Everyone ate in a more comfortable silence for a few minutes, then Lucy asked, "What is it like in Fraye? I mean, not just the food but the whole country. I haven't heard much about it before."

Aurora relaxed at Lucy's question, happy to begin discussing a safer topic. She cheerfully explained, "It is a very small country, but the people there are kind and gentle. There are many woods and forests. In fact most of Fraye is woodland, although we have some beautiful lakes," she smiled at the thought of her home, "There are lots and lots of animals, especially birds and deer, but as far as I'm aware none of them can speak," she laughed.

The siblings laughed along with her. "That sounds really nice," Peter commented with a grin.

The rest of the breakfast was much more relaxed, and Aurora was delighted that they had managed to break the ice. She was beginning to really like the kings and queens, especially Peter and Lucy, although Susan was still a little bit hostile towards her and she refused to even think about Edmund.

* * *

After a pleasant breakfast Lucy surprised Aurora by suggesting they go for a walk around the castle grounds. Peter and Susan had both disappeared to take care of various royal duties and Phillip and Marcus seemed to be avoiding the Narnians altogether. Aurora couldn't help the happiness that she felt at having some space from the men, and getting to spend some much needed time just chatting with a girl her own age. Lucy was a cheerful girl, and Aurora enjoyed her presence.

"It is nice to get some space away from the soldiers," Aurora commented lightly as they strolled along a cobbled pathway outside the castle. The castle gardens were exquisite, with all sorts of colourful flowers and plants being tended to by cheery servants. The pretty queen walked beside her happily.

"I'm guessing you're used to being surrounded by security guards?" she asked with interest.

Aurora looked at her as she answered, "Yes. My father likes to know that I'm safe. I shouldn't be ungrateful but they can be a little overbearing sometimes."

Lucy laughed, "I understand that," she replied, "My brothers and Susan have a tendency to forget that I'm not a little girl anymore. They usually make me stay behind whilst they're away travelling to different countries and fighting in wars. I can handle myself better than they realise."

Aurora noticed the strong way the queen held herself and didn't doubt for a second that she was tougher than her pretty dresses made her look.

"I bet you could," she agreed with a nod. Lucy's smile widened at this.

The two continued to walk happily through the gardens, Lucy pointing out her favourite flowers and Aurora listening fascinated as her new friend explained what they were. Many of the plants were native to Narnia and so very different to anything she had seen before.

After her tour of the gardens Aurora requested to see Tarandro, "He's a talking reindeer, I'm not sure where he'll be but I would really like to see him if it's possible?" she asked Lucy hopefully. The queen looked thoughtful for a moment before replying,

"I imagine he'll be with the rest of the reindeer in a field on the other side of the castle. I'm sure he would have been eager to see his relatives again,"

"Oh yes he was, he's been terribly lonely after his brother Cornibus died," Aurora explained, thinking of how happy Tarandro must be at being reunited with his kind.

"Oh I can imagine," Lucy shook her had sadly, before smiling again "well lets go see him now. I would love to meet him."

Enthusiastically Aurora nodded, and followed Lucy as they headed across the castle grounds. They chatted happily on their way around the huge castle, Aurora explaining to Lucy how she and Tarandro became friends. She even included the part about meeting him when she was living with the white witch, who she had been hesitant to mention before. Aurora was beginning to have more faith that Lucy would understand and not judge her. After all, Aurora _was_ the witch's daughter, a fact that was never going to change no matter how badly she wanted it to.

As they walked around a corner Aurora began to hear the harsh clashing of swords. She looked out into the field beside them and saw King Edmund duelling with a massive centaur. The king moved swiftly and sliced his sword with impressive precision, clearly winning the fight. Aurora couldn't help but stare. She had watched Phillip duelling many times but even the experienced prince could not have matched the skills of the dark-haired King. He swung his sword so fast that the centaur had trouble blocking it and at one point even stumbled backwards. With a quick hit Edmund knocked the sword out of the centaurs hands and pointed his own sword at him with a smile. The defeated soldier shook his head and smiled back at the king, before heavily patting him on the back, clearly exhausted.

"Edmund spends most of his time down here, training," Lucy piped up, noticing the princess' stare. Aurora continued to watch him as he talked to his training companion, unable to take her gaze off him. He was just so _handsome_. And he looked so much more relaxed, talking to his friend. She hadn't seen him like that before. Just then, he lifted his head and looked directly at her. He stared back at her with a surprised expression. She blushed so deeply, humiliated at being caught staring again. She quickly looked over to Lucy who raised her eyebrows at her questioningly.

"Is it far to the fields from here?" the princess asked, a little desperate to start walking again and get away from the gorgeous king who was still watching her _._ Lucy shook her head, "no, we're almost there," she answered quietly, seeming to wonder why Aurora was suddenly so flustered.

Eventually they made it to a large, green field and Aurora smiled delightedly when she noticed Tarandro whinnying happily in among a big group of beautiful reindeer. Although he was the only white one, meaning he was probably the only one who had served the witch, he seemed to fit in perfectly with the others. They had obviously welcomed him with open arms. This made the princess feel relieved – at least the Narnians were happy that one of them had returned.

Her friend noticed her and Lucy entering the field and trotted over with some of his fellow reindeer.

"Tarandro," she shouted, running over to throw her arms around his big neck, "It feels like forever since I've seen you."

She smiled at his friends, hoping to seem warm and not witch-like. Although it is hard to tell on a reindeer, it seemed like they were smiling back.

Tarandro bowed his head when he saw Lucy.

"Your majesty, it is a true honour to meet you," he said in his deep voice.

Lucy was her usual cheerful self when she answered, "You must be Tarandro, Aurora has told me so much about you. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

Tarandro looked chuffed for a moment before introducing Aurora to his fellow reindeer who thankfully, didn't seem at all threatened by her. Tarandro must have spread a good word.

They spent a long time in the field chatting about Narnia. The girls only said goodbye to the reindeer after Lucy's stomach rumbled, reminding them that the others were probably expecting them soon for lunch.

When they made it back to the castle, they found Peter sitting in the dining room by himself, finishing what looked like a cheese roll.

He smiled warmly when he saw them, "Did you have a nice morning?" he asked.

Aurora took a seat at the wooden table and answered truthfully, "It was lovely. The gardens are beautiful."

Peter kept watching the princess with a smile, even when Lucy added, "We met with Aurora's friend, the talking reindeer Tarandro."

"That's wonderful," he replied still looking at Aurora. She couldn't help but return his smile. He was such a warm person, and she couldn't help but feel at ease when he was around.

Lucy cleared her throat, causing them to look away from each other, although Peter's gaze lingered on the princess slightly longer.

After an awkward second Lucy began to ask Peter about his morning, and the three ended up having a comfortable hour of conversing. Servants brought the girls some food and Susan eventually came and joined them. To Aurora's relief, and disappointment, Edmund didn't show up and she was left to wonder about him again, and whether or not he would ever stop hating her.

 **Thanks for reading! Sorry it takes me so long to update, I'm so slow at writing. It takes me hours to do just a couple of paragraphs.**

 **Anyway, thanks again. Reviews, follows and favourites are all super appreciated. Until next time... :)**


	12. Return to Narnia - Part Five

**Return to Narnia - Part Five**

It was Aurora's third day in Narnia, and she was beginning to feel hopeful that the kings and queens would help them discover what King Amor, the leader of the Nushanians, wanted. Peter had promised he would get in touch with them to try and arrange a meeting. Although she had only known the high king for a couple of days, she found that she trusted him.

The last day she had spent mostly with Lucy who had shown her around the rest of the castle and introduced her to some people. Sadly, nearly everyone she met had eyed her suspiciously. It made her feel like there was something wrong with her. But even with the judgement of the locals, Aurora still found she was enjoying herself. There was something incredibly peaceful and happy about Narnia. A joyfulness in the air.

It was the afternoon already, time seemed to pass so quickly in this pleasant country, and Aurora was walking through the castle with the centaur Dawn, who she had met a few days earlier. Dawn was one of the only Narnians who liked her, and the two joked around as they strolled. Aurora knew that the centaur had been ordered to keep her company. She hadn't been left alone at all since she'd arrived, although she couldn't figure out whether it was to keep her safe from any vengeful Narnians or because they still didn't trust her.

The two girls were laughing loudly when Prince Phillip showed up and interrupted them.

"Would you mind if I had a moment with Aurora?" he asked Dawn coldly. Phillip still did not get on well with the Narnians. Dawn nodded once, an unfriendly expression appearing over her usually happy face, before she turned and walked off.

"Is everything alright Phillip?" the princess asked with concern.

Phillip's features softened. "It's just that I haven't seen you much lately. I'm worried about how they've been treating you." He said "they've" with a tone of disgust.

" _They've_ been very good to me actually," Aurora answered, trying very hard not to snap. _He's only trying to look out for you_ , she told herself. "I have become good friends with Queen Lucy and King Peter. They are both very kind."

Phillip nodded at this, "Yes King Peter does seem to have a good head on his shoulders," Aurora relaxed, at least Phillip respected the high king, "The other king though I'm not sure about. He seems uncontrolled. I hear he spends most of his time cutting things with his sword, avoiding all his royal duties. What's the point of having two kings if only one of them actually does any of the work?"

Shocked, Aurora couldn't believe how judgemental her friend was being. She couldn't help but feel angry, "King Edmund does plenty for Narnia! He is an excellent swordsman. Lucy says he is an incredible battle strategist as well!" she defended.

Surprised at her outburst and probably wondering why she was being so defensive, Phillip pointed out, "He thinks you are an evil witch you know."

This struck Aurora. She knew it was the truth, and it sent a small stab of shame through her stomach at being reminded of the way Edmund felt about her.

"That is true," she confessed sadly. She hated that Edmund thought that about her. The memory of the fury in his beautiful eyes when they first met made her look down glumly. Phillip mistook her sadness and gently placed a hand on her cheek.

"You aren't anything like a witch Aurora," he comforted. Seeing how sad she still looked he added, "You used to find injured animals in the woods and look after them and sing nursery rhymes with the palace children. You even went against your father's orders to give some of your dresses to the kitchen maids when you found out the only clothes they owned were their work outfits," he smiled when he saw her frown, "Yes I knew about that," he chuckled.

"And you even defend King Edmund, despite the fact that has been so hateful towards you," he finished firmly. "You are definitely not a witch princess."

Aurora was so touched. She looked into his confident face and felt the familiar comfort of being with her childhood friend. This was the side of Phillip that she loved. Her best friend who stood up for her and comforted her. This was the Phillip she had almost forgotten about, when he had been so bossy and overprotective. She hugged him close.

"Thank you," she whispered against his chest.

"It's alright," he said quietly, hugging her tighter. She could sense he was smiling.

As the golden sun began to set, Aurora entered the massive dining room with Philip. King Peter had called everyone to dinner, trying to ease the tension between the Narnian's and their guests. Much to the princess' surprise, all of the royals were sat at the table, including King Edmund. She avoided looking at him as she sat down, taking care not to sit directly opposite him this time. Instead Philip ended up sitting in front of the king, and Aurora sat to Philip's left.

"Good evening Princess Aurora, Prince Phillip," Peter greeted, "I'm glad you decided to have dinner with us. We felt it would be nice for all of us to sit down to a meal together, as friends."

Aurora beamed at his words, grateful of the effort he was making for them to feel comfortable and delighted that he saw her as a friend.

"Thank you King Peter, we are happy to join you," Aurora replied, her lovely voice sounding even lovelier with the joy that she felt. Phillip didn't seem nearly as happy, but that was expected. He was a difficult one to please.

There was an array of tasty dishes laid out before them. A wonderful meal, yet also modest. There wasn't going to be piles of leftovers and the food was mostly simple. A roasted chicken, some fish, potatoes, and a fresh-looking side salad. Everyone began to help themselves. Small talk started to be made, with Philip asking Peter about whether or not he enjoyed hunting, and Lucy and Susan telling Aurora about a summer ball they held every year, to celebrate the day Narnia was freed. Aurora tried to join in conversations but nerves began to interfere with her ability to talk, for she couldn't help but notice that Edmund was staying completely silent, not looking up from his plate. He seemed angry again.

Aurora ate some food quietly, without enjoying the wonderful flavours. She told herself that it was just one silly king that didn't like her. It wasn't a big deal. It shouldn't matter that much.

But it _did_.

For reasons she couldn't explain, it hurt her. She began to think that maybe she deserved it. Her mother had been a monster after all, and maybe that made her a monster as well. The witch's blood ran through her veins. Maybe he was right to hate her for it.

Caught up in her gloomy, lonely thoughts, the princess didn't notice that the conversation had gone awkwardly still. As she stared down at her half-full plate, the others had taken notice of her quietness, and also the reason why. The queens shifted uncomfortably, whilst Peter, quite un-kinglike kicked his brother from under the table. Edmund's gaze shot up, and he was taken aback at how sad Aurora looked. He had been lost in his own thoughts as well. Guilt swam around his stomach when he realised how cold he had been, again. She really did seem so innocent.

Another uncomfortable moment passed in which Edmund watched Aurora who was still sadly looking down and everyone else glanced tensely between the two of them. It was then that Phillip apparently couldn't take it anymore. His fist slammed down on the table in front of Edmund. Aurora jumped back as the red-faced prince shouted,

"What the hell is your problem?!"

In a split second, everything had changed. Phillip was standing, leaning forward towards the king, who looked startled at first, and then furious.

"Phillip!" the princess yelled disbelievingly. He ignored her.

"She hasn't done ANYTHING wrong, how dare you make her feel uncomfortable!" he continued to yell.

The younger king stood, his hatred visible on his perfect features.

"This is my kingdom," he spoke in a terrifyingly calm tone, "and I won't be disrespected by some lowly prince."

"Edmund," Peter warned. Phillip's fists clenched furiously. Aurora glanced between them in a panic. Why wasn't Marcus here? How could she possibly defuse the situation without making it worse. She didn't even fully understand what the situation was, she had been too consumed in her worries earlier to be paying attention.

Edmund suddenly seemed thrilled at making the prince so angry and he leaned forward so that they were face to face.

"Maybe you should worry more about your own reputation. People don't respect stupid men who fall in love with witches."

The queens both gasped, Lucy's hand covering her mouth in shock. Hurt flooded through Aurora as she struggled to force away the tears that threatened to fill her eyes. The prince looked ready to leap across the table and throw Edmund out the window, but was stopped from doing so by a powerful bellow that rang around the room.

"ENOUGH!" Peter yelled. In that moment, the friendly, welcoming man that had just called Aurora a friend was gone. In his place was a furious king, who was outraged that the pleasant evening he'd arranged had just taken the most horrible turn. Abruptly, he stepped away from the table and called out to his servants,

"Dawn. Can you please escort Princess Aurora and Prince Phillip back to their rooms."

Dawn came rushing forward and answered with a bow, "Of course, your majesty."

With her head bowed down to try and hide the tears in her eyes, Aurora followed her centaur friend, Phillip reluctantly leaving with them. Just as they reached the door, Peter called out again,

"Oh, and Dawn. Bring them both some food up later, as we didn't get to finish our meal." If she had been looking up, the princess would have noticed the fear-inducing glare Peter shot his brother.

They walked in silence back to their rooms. When Dawn finally closed her bedroom door with a look of pity in her eyes, the tears fell heavily down Aurora's cheeks.

It was all beginning to be a bit too much. This silly king who she unreasonably cared about called her a witch, and she was so worried for her father back home where there could be an attack anytime, and Phillip was being so annoyingly protective, and she was starting to feel the horrible empty feeling of homesickness.

It would all be over soon, she told herself. Peter would help them and then they'd be able to go home, where her father and aunts were waiting for her and no one thought she was a witch. She just had to hold out a little longer.

* * *

Back in the dining room, Edmund gritted his teeth, his brother's enraged voice ringing through his ears.

"Why do you have to behave like such a child? You are disgracing this family!" Peter hadn't been this angry in a very long time.

Edmund wanted to yell back. To argue that it was the prince that started it. That he hadn't done anything wrong. But Aurora's face when the word "witch" slipped past his mouth had caused a sharp stab of regret in him. He was struggling to keep up the belief that she was tricking them. Why did she have to be so bloody beautiful? Why was she testing him like this? He had to be suspicious of her, for the sake of Narnia. Peter was too blinded by her. If she was as evil as her mother, it would be only too easy for her to destroy them all. One of them needed to keep their wits about them!

"She is our guest, and if I ever hear you call her that again, I swear to you I will,"

"Stop it Peter!" Susan interrupted sternly. The two older siblings exchanged dark looks.

"He has no right to accuse her of that," Peter said angrily.

Susan took a step towards him. "Edmund's behaviour was rude and uncalled for I agree, but he has a point. We can't forget about her past."

"What past?!" Peter was shouting again. "She has never done anything wrong!"

Lucy opened her mouth to try and calm everyone down, just as Edmund stepped right in front of Peter, both of them shaking with anger.

"Let's just breathe for a moment," the youngest queen tried but no one was paying attention.

"You think that being the high king makes you the smartest," Edmund growled, "but you are acting like a fool!"

"How dare you," Peter started, but Edmund wasn't finished.

"You took one look at her pretty face and decided that you would risk all of Narnia just because you wanted her."

Peter's fist swung into Edmunds face with a loud smack. Blood burst from Edmund's lip as he stumbled back, catching himself on the table. He was just about to lunge forward and tackle his brother in a blind fury, when Lucy threw herself in between them.

"Stop it! Both of you!" she cried. Susan grabbed Peter's arm and tried to pull him back. He resisted for a second, then let her drag him out the room. Lucy grabbed a napkin off the table and dabbed at Edmund's face, where blood was still gushing from his burst lip.

"You are both such silly boys," she shook her head, a look of disappointment on her face. Edmund had to look away from his little sister's expression. He hated feeling that he'd let her down. They sat there in silence for a while, Lucy tending to his small injury.

"No magic cordial for this?" he asked, trying to lighten the mood with a weak attempt at humour.

Lucy smiled gently, "No. I think you deserve this one."

Edmund sighed at that, "Yeah I think you're right."

He had struck a low blow at his brother. He looked at his sister again and saw that seemed sad. He knew how much she hated it when they fought.

"I'm sorry Lu. I don't mean to upset you," he said quietly. She put the napkin down, and Edmund took one of her hands in his.

"You are so good and trusting Lu. I wish I could be more like you sometimes. But I also think that there are times when you can be too trusting, and it's my responsibility then to stop you from getting hurt," he tried to explain.

"I understand that Edmund. And I know that you have more reason to be suspicious of her than any of us," Lucy rested her other hand on top of his. "But you have to give her a chance. She really is lovely."

He felt his sister watching him as he took a deep breath, thinking of how best to explain what he was thinking.

"I want to give her a chance Lucy. I can see how genuine she seems," Lucy smiled hopefully, "But what all of you seem to forget is that the White Witch was a master at deception."

"I know how good the witch was at lying Ed," Lucy started.

"No you don't!" Edmund shook his head. "You three only saw her a couple of times. You didn't speak with her the same way I did. You weren't tricked by her or put under a spell by her. You don't understand what she was really like. You didn't see her when she was pretending to be kind, pretending she cared for me. She seemed genuine to me then too," he finished, his eyes pleading with Lucy to understand.

"We've only known Aurora a couple of days. Peter was never even a little bit suspicious of her, not even when she first arrived. How do we know he isn't under a spell? And Prince Phillip as well. He is completely devoted to her. How do we know that she hasn't bewitched him?"

Lucy frowned at him. Edmund hoped so badly that she would understand him. He wasn't trying to be rude or unkind, but he couldn't risk being tricked again.

"Oh Edmund," Lucy whispered, "I always forget what the witch did to you. I can see why you would be so careful," she squeezed his hand. "I don't think Aurora has bewitched anyone but I promise I'll keep an eye on her. And I think you should spend a bit more time with her as well. Maybe if you get to know her a bit better you'll realise you don't have to be so scared."

Edmund looked away, "I don't think that's such a good idea."

"Oh come on Ed," his sister rolled her eyes, "I'm not saying you have to become best friends with her, but maybe it would be good for both of us to be a bit more open-minded."

He watched his sister's expression change to hopeful and he knew she was right.

"Okay then," he agreed, a little tensely. "We have a deal. You'll be more open to the idea of her being a witch and I'll be more open to the idea of her being innocent."

"Deal." Lucy nodded, and satisfied with the agreement they both shook hands.

 **I am so sorry for the long wait! I won't bother with lame excuses but to make it up to you I've already written the next part and I'll get it posted ASAP. I would really like feedback and suggestions. I have a basic idea of where the story is heading but if you have anything you want me to put in please let me know and I'll definitely consider it!**

 **Also I just want to quickly say that I know the romance in this is a little slow-paced, but I really want to build the characters up. I think it would take Edmund a while to be able to trust Aurora but I promise that they are almost there.**

 **Thank you so so much for reading! :)**


	13. Return to Narnia - Part Six

**Replies to comments are at the end :)**

 **Return to Narnia - Part Six**

Aurora nervously trailed behind Dawn on the way to breakfast the next morning. She was surprised they would all be eating together after Phillip's outburst the night before. Humiliated at how stupid he had been, she prayed that he would have the sense to apologise. What if he had ruined everything, and they were about to be told to leave Narnia and never come back.

"Deep breaths Princess," Dawn encouraged, before gesturing to the servants outside the dining room to open the door. She stepped inside and in a split second several horrifying observations flashed through her mind. First was that all the kings and queens were there (including Edmund), sitting in what looked like a very tense silence. Secondly was that there was only one other seat at the table. Phillip would not be joining them it seemed, the traitor. Though maybe it was for the best. And lastly, the most horrifying thing of all was the dark bruise that had appeared on Edmunds cheek, surrounding a red cut on his lower lip. What had happened last night after she'd left?

She hesitantly went to sit down beside Lucy. "Good morning," the auburn-haired queen greeted cheerfully.

Happy that Lucy still seemed to like her the princess replied with a smile, "Morning."

Lucy tried to ease some of the tension that was coming from both of the kings with chatter about how lovely the weather was today, and how the birds were chirping louder than usual that morning. To Aurora's surprise Susan joined in the conversation, with a comment about Aurora's dress,

"It's lovely," she admired, "the light blue suits you so well. Do you have many dressmakers in Fraye?"

Aurora was flattered at the beautiful queen's attention, "Thank you. We have a few dressmakers in the kingdom but I actually made this one myself. It gets a little boring sometimes in the castle, so I try to occupy myself with small projects."

Susan looked impressed.

"Oh I wish I could make dresses like that," Lucy sighed wistfully.

Aurora chuckled, "It's really not that hard. I can show you at some point if you like?"

Both queens nodded enthusiastically, and Susan added, "I know some of the servants would love to learn how to make more styles of dresses."

The girls all beamed, each of them seeming happy at making friends.

Peter still seemed distracted, shooting his brother cautious looks every ten seconds. Aurora wondered again what had happened after she left.

Lucy cleared her throat, "Edmund," she began, a tone to her voice that Aurora didn't understand. "Are you planning on going riding today?" she asked.

The handsome king looked surprised at being brought into the conversation, before realisation dawned on his face. He quickly glanced at Aurora then sent his sister a hard look.

"No."

Lucy's expression tightened. "Are you sure? I thought you were going to spend some time outside."

Edmund gripped his fork tighter.

"No, I think you must have misunderstood."

The other three looked between them in confusion.

"Maybe you should be a little more _open-minded_ towards the idea," Lucy muttered firmly.

Edmund glared fiercely at Lucy who was apparently unfazed by him.

"A ride seems like a good idea Edmund, "Peter interrupted their moment with an icy tone. "Should give you a chance to clear your head."

"My head is perfectly clear Peter," Edmund snapped.

"I agree with Peter. A ride around the kingdom would be good for you," Lucy insisted, then added thoughtfully, "And Aurora has been dying to see the rest of Narnia…"

"What!" Aurora blurted out. Lucy couldn't be seriously suggesting that she go with Edmund.

"Absolutely not," Peter retorted.

Edmund slammed his cutlery down abruptly and stormed out of the room.

Silence rang for a second, as everyone looked awkwardly at each other. Dejectedly, Lucy sighed. Unsure of what had just happened, Aurora put down her cutlery, no longer hungry. She was getting fed up of Edmund's temper and just wanted the chance to explain to him that she meant no harm. Although the idea of facing him terrified her, she couldn't stand the constant tension anymore.

"Maybe I should go and speak to him," she tried, but Peter and Susan both seemed appalled by the idea.

"No, no, that's definitely not a good idea," Peter answered quickly.

"I don't know Peter, maybe it would be good for them to talk," Lucy attempted hopefully.

"No. It's a terrible idea," Susan cut her off sharply. Realising Peter and Susan had made up their minds, Aurora pretended to let it go. But whilst she picked up her cutlery again to finish her breakfast she secretly made plans to find the king later. She had to at least try to explain herself.

* * *

It was late afternoon before she finally got the chance to sneak off by herself. She had spent the day as promised, teaching Lucy, Susan and several of the female servants some of her dressmaking skills. It had been a little difficult as the only humans were the queens and herself, but the fauns, centaurs and even a couple of talking squirrels had been interested all the same. Dawn was there too, although dressmaking was apparently boring to her. It was a cheery day, and the girly activities seemed to help the Narnians warm up to her.

The thought of facing Edmund had made her stomach churn all day, however she refused to be a coward. Through her observations in the past few days she made a reasonable guess that he would be in the training grounds at that time, he seemed to spend most of his time there, so when the girls were all sitting on some picnic tables distracted by their conversations, Aurora slipped away around the side of the castle.

She thankfully didn't bump into anyone on her way there – she could only imagine what people would think seeing her sneaking across the grounds. She started to think of what she would actually say when she saw him. Hopefully his good-looks wouldn't distract her as they had before. She was almost there. She turned around the last corner and smacked straight into a metal wall.

CRASH

"Ouch," she mumbled rubbing her forehead. She glanced up to see what she had walked into and felt her stomach fall right through to her feet.

King Edmund's face was a mixture of being completely surprised and slightly horrified. He was wearing his Narnian chestplate, which Aurora thought should have had a dent in it after the force she crashed into it with.

"Are you alright?" he asked, concerned. It seemed strange to see him not angry. He actually seemed worried for her. The thought made her heart tingle delightedly. She felt herself being drawn into his deep brown eyes, that were closer to hers than they ever had been before. She noticed for the first time, that there was a hint of red in them.

"Yes," she managed to get out. Heat rushed up her cheeks and for a second she couldn't remember what she had come to say.

"Are you lost?" he asked. Again, there was no malice in his voice.

"Erm no," she suddenly felt more confident in what she had to tell him. "I was looking for you."

This seemed to take him by surprise. He looked at her questioningly. Aurora tried very hard not to get distracted by the dark curls that fell over his forehead adorably and focus on what she needed to say.

"I just wanted to apologise for everything that's happened these past few days. For disrupting your lives and causing tension within your family. Oh, and also for Phillip," she remembered with a wince, "I promise that I'm not a danger to anyone, I didn't inherit any of my mother's magic, and even if I did, I don't mean anyone any harm. You have been so good in offering us your help, and as soon as we can, we will return to Fraye and you won't have to see us again."

Aurora bit her lip nervously as she waited for his response. The king was frowning at her, and she couldn't figure out what he was thinking. Then, without warning, Edmund turned around and hastily walked away.

Staring after him open-mouthed, embarrassment and anger flooded the princess. How dare he? She had apologised and explained herself and been completely honest and he didn't even have the decency to respond. Did he really think that little of her?

Well, that was the end of her trying to be nice to him. She understood that he had history with her mother, but honestly, her mother had been a chilling, terrifying giant, and Aurora knew she didn't have the same presence. Her height didn't even reach his shoulders for goodness sake!

With a huff, she turned around and stormed back to the other girls. Dawn and Lucy met her before she made it all the way back. Taking in her expression, Lucy immediately realised what had happened.

"Oh no, did you try and talk to Edmund?" she asked, worriedly.

Aurora only nodded in response, not wanting to open her mouth and risk a flurry of insults about the queen's brother slipping out. Lucy shook her head, her pretty features twisting in annoyance.

"He promised he would stop being so rude," she muttered under her breath.

 _Well_ , thought Aurora bitterly, _that was obviously a promise he decided not to keep_.

* * *

Edmund sat on the edge of his bed, his face in his hands. He felt horrible. The princess was so _not_ like her mother, it made it impossible for him be angry at her. Lucy was right - she was sweet, and he loved hearing her talk at the few meals he'd attended since her arrival. Especially about her home and the things that made her happy. And when her pink lips turned up into that breath-taking smile he felt bubbles of happiness form in his chest. Her ocean-blue eyes had been so sincere when she apologised earlier. Shame pierced him when he thought of how he ran away. He hoped he hadn't hurt her feelings again.

But he had needed space to think, and his thoughts were always so jumbled around her. He needed to figure out what he was going to do now. He felt an unfamiliar longing to be near her, but what if she did have ulterior motives? Running through his options, the king sat there for ages. He knew in his heart though, that he wasn't prepared to keep being so hostile.

Defeatedly, he made his decision. He couldn't stay away from her any longer.

* * *

Aurora had calmed down by the time they went for dinner. She felt the now familiar dread of facing Edmund as she walked to the dining room, but cheered up considerably when she found only three of the four royals in their seats. It seemed Edmund had decided he didn't want to be near her at all anymore. _Fine by me_ , she told herself (although really it wasn't.)

They started their meal happily – everyone was in a good mood. The only slight damper had been when Peter told Aurora gently that they hadn't heard back from King Amor yet. It worried the princess whenever she was reminded of the real danger her kingdom was in, but her new friends did their best to comfort her.

"We won't stop trying," Peter promised her earnestly.

About halfway through the meal the door opened, and everyone went quiet. Peter tensed and Aurora bit her lip nervously, as King Edmund walked in and took his seat across from her. She took note of something slightly different about the king this time. He wasn't angry. If anything he seemed a little nervous.

"Sorry I'm late," he apologised to the group. She noticed Lucy grinning beside her, and suspiciously wondered why. Everyone began to eat again and discussions started back up. Susan was much more comfortable around Aurora after spending the day with her and started asking her many questions about life in Fraye.

"What kind of parties do you have?", "How much snow do you get in the winter?", and, "Do you keep a lot of horses at the castle?" were just some of the random things Aurora was asked about. She could feel Edmund's eyes on her as she answered, and whenever she sneaked a glance at him, he was watching her with a tiny smile. It was strange, but somehow made her forget how angry she had been earlier.

They had long since finished their meal and were all chatting happily when Susan asked her most interesting question, "How is it that you managed to escape from the witch? It couldn't have been easy; you were only a child?" Everyone's expressions turned more serious, watching for the princess' reaction.

"It wasn't easy," Aurora explained, feeling chilly just at the memory. "I couldn't have done it by myself, I had a lot of help."

"Tarandro?" Lucy asked curiously.

The princess nodded with a sad smile, "Yes. Tarandro and his brother Cornibus were two of the creatures enslaved by my mother," she felt a rush of anger as she remembered the way her best friends had suffered at the hands of the witch, "I snuck past the guards in the middle of the night and broke the lock to the stables. The three of us managed to escape unnoticed, but the vultures eventually found us. Tarandro survived them, but Cornibus wasn't so lucky, "her voice broke slightly. She blinked away the small tears that filled her eyes. After clearing her throat she finished, "And I suppose you know what happened to me after that."

"I'm so sorry about your friend," Lucy whispered, reaching out to squeeze her hand. Aurora smiled gratefully at her.

"What happened after you ran from us?" Susan asked interestedly.

"Well, I didn't make it very far to be honest. Not before the wolves found me," she shivered as the others gasped. "Thankfully though, that's when Tarandro showed up. With Father Christmas," she added, the face of the cheery man as clear in her memory as if they had only met yesterday.

"So it was Father Christmas that took you back to Fraye?" Peter wondered.

Aurora nodded. Everyone pondered her story for a moment and Aurora saw an opportunity find out what she really wanted to know. Afterall, she had told them her story, now maybe they would tell her theirs.

"How did you defeat her?" The question came out quieter than she'd intended, her tone giving away the disbelief she felt that anyone could have destroyed her mother, let alone a group of children.

The siblings looked between each other, seemingly trying to figure out who would explain the story to her and how. Then Lucy suggested, "Perhaps it would be best to show her."

Nodding in agreement Peter spoke, "Yes Lu, I think that's the best way," he turned to explain to Aurora, "Tomorrow I'll take you to the stone table. It will be easier to tell you our story there, where it took place."

Satisfied with this the princess smiled, "Thank you." Her mother's white face had haunted her nightmares for years. Maybe once she finally learnt how she was killed, Aurora would be able to find some peace from her.

 **Thank you so much for reading! I forgot to mention in the last part but please excuse any spelling mistakes or grammatical errors. I try my best but I always find loads when I look back at older chapters.**

 **Loads more Edmund in the next part, I promise!**

 **Please follow and review! Thanks again :)**

 **Comments from last time**

 **Anonymousme - Thanks for the feedback! Very helpful. I understand where you're coming from. I imagine Phillip to be a little short-tempered and he is very intimidated by the Narnians. He isn't used to the different types of creatures and talking animals and many of the Narnians think the girl he's in love with is a witch so he isn't happy about that. He is a bit of a jerk to be honest - he thinks very highly of himself. Thanks for the suggestion! Its funny, I had already written this chapter with a similar idea in mind but as you can see it turned out a little differently. Thanks again for the review! Much appreciated :)**


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